David Rohal has been named president of the San Diego-based Pacific Imperial Railroad. Rohal, who is the son of Akron Railroad Club member and past president Bob Rohal, will begin his new post on Dec. 1
David Rohal has 30 years of railroad experience in management roles with various class 1 and short line railroads.
He most recently held senior positions with Patriot Rail and RailAmerica. He also previously worked for CSX.
Rohal has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University and an MBA from The Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.
“I’m excited to bring this rail line back to life,” Rohal said in a news release. “Pacific Imperial Railroad has a significant opportunity to service the maquiladoras, a dense cluster of manufacturing facilities in northwest Mexico. My goal is to lead PIR to achieve its goal to provide the fastest, most cost efficient, and safest opportunity for these companies to move freight by rail.”
PIR signed a 99-year lease with San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway Company and San Diego Metropolitan Transit System in December 2012.
Upon completion of a planned rebuilding of its 70-mile Desert Line , PIR will be the only company providing railroad freight services in the Tijuana-Tecate region of Baja California, Mexico and eastern San Diego County. In total, PIR operates 130 miles of track.
The rail line joins BNSF and the San Diego and Imperial Valley railroads at the southwestern tip of San Diego County with the UP Line from El Centro, Calif. It is the only rail line that runs directly adjacent to approximately 755 manufacturing facilities (known as maquiladoras), located approximately 14 miles south of the U.S.- Mexico border.
Its website is: www.pacificimperialrailroad.com
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