‘Near and dear to my heart’: Retired Metra CEO leaves board, union leader joins

Not that many transit executives can shift from spreadsheets and scheduling to operating a train in a pinch.

Retired Metra CEO and outgoing board Director Don Orseno is one of those select few.

June marked Orseno’s last board meeting and Wednesday will be the first for replacement Brian Shanahan, railroad coordinator for the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers (IAM) and a former Metra employee.

“Metra is very near and dear to my heart,” said Orseno, a former train engineer.

He leaves as Metra, Pace and CTA face a funding crisis and major reorganization.

“I hope everything continues to go well and I hope with all this craziness going on … that things are worked out to the benefit of the transportation systems that serve the people of Illinois,” Orseno said.

Orseno worked for Metra for over three decades, becoming CEO in 2014. He was appointed to the board in 2019, after his retirement.

Orseno “reached out to me when I became a new board member (in 2021) to help me get up to speed — not just about issues in front of the board, but on the operational side,” board Chair Joseph McMahon said. “I’m going to miss his experience and that historical knowledge.”

“Don’s decades of dedication and experience to Metra says a lot about a truly great person,” Director Ken Koehler said. “The timing couldn’t have come at a worse time, as Metra faces such challenging issues.

“Many times he brought a perspective toward an issue that others may not have been aware about.”

Will County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant appointed Shanahan, calling him a “nationally recognized leader in public transit who is working across Illinois to fiercely advocate for Metra, transit, and the expansion of high-speed rail opportunities in Will County.”

Shanahan, 37, has held leadership roles since 2010 in the Transportation Communications Union (TCU) and IAM, which merged some years ago. Recently, he was TCU/IAM national vice president.

“I’m extremely excited,” said Shanahan, who lives in Mokena. “I have a long lineage of railroading in my blood. Public transportation has been such a key ingredient to my life. I can’t wait to for the opportunity to contribute.”

Regarding goals, “I believe folks want to see more of a regional transit system and they also want to see some sort of interconnectivity with the other systems,” Shanahan said. There’s “an incredible opportunity to grow the system and change it.”

Shanahan started at Metra in 2008 and worked in different positions, including mail clerk and ticket distribution clerk, officials said. In July 2016, he took a full-time unpaid leave of absence to take a union position and officially resigned from Metra on June 18, 2025.

Hundreds of Metra employees belong to TCU and IAM.

Asked how he would avoid any conflicts of interest regarding collective bargaining discussions or contract votes, Shanahan said, “I work for the Machinists’ international office so I don’t bargain contracts anymore.”

“My main job is focusing on public transit (across the U.S.). My role day-to-day has nothing to do with bargaining. If there was ever some kind of conflict, obviously I would abstain from voting. I don’t think there would be an issue looking forward at all,” he added.

All new board directors undergo a vetting process by Metra’s legal department, which includes reviewing if any conflicts exist, said McMahon, an attorney.

‘It’s just time’

Orseno, 70, plans to spend more time with his family, which includes multiple grandchildren. “It’s just time — with everything in my life that’s going on.”

Orseno was a stabilizing force at Metra, which weathered leadership crises and political interference scandals in the 2010s, as well as funding doomsdays, only to see ridership tank at the onset of COVID-19 in 2020.

“We were able to overcome a lot of things and turn things around, and make it a better place,” Orseno said.

“Metra is light-years ahead of where it was,” he added. “But there’s still a lot of work to do. If we want it to be the system we expect it to be, we’re going to need to fund it.”