Gennaro Sansone

  • Adjunct Professor

Gennaro Sansone

Mr. Sansone joined CH2M HILL after more than 37 years at New York City Transit, retiring as the Chief Mechanical Officer and held a variety of management positions at NYCT.   In 1992, as the Assistant Chief Mechanical Officer, he led the introduction of new rail vehicle technology at NYCT including the first train line networks, new communication and sign systems, new carbody crashworthiness and new interior and cab designs.   Over a period of 20 years, Mr. Sansone led the engineering effort for, and managed all aspects of NYCT‘s largest vehicle procurements, totaling some 3,500 advanced subway vehicles supplied by various carbuilders.  In conjunction with the New Millenium Fleet, he planned the modernization and rebuilding of  the associated car maintenance shops. At CH2M HILL, Mr. Sansone is providing rolling stock engineering, maintenance  and procurement support to various agencies including CTA, NYCT, PATH, WMATA, BART, and TTC.  He is also an adjunct professor at New York University Poly lecturing on the Management of Transit Operations and Maintenance.

Research Interests
Program and Project Management of all aspects of large procurements of technologically advanced rail vehicles. Intimately familiar with procurement processes and regulations. Vehicle engineering/maintenance, specification development, design evaluations, supplier management and oversight, facility planning and fleet appearance.

Northeastern University 1989
50th National Urban Mass Transportation Management Seminar,

Carnegie-Mellon University 1978
Professional Program in Urban Transportation,

Iona College 1972
Masters in Business Administration, Management Science

Kansas State University 1967
Bachelor of Science , Electrical Engineering


Westinghouse Electrical Corporation
Field Service Engineer and Project Engineer
Industry Services Division - Mr. Sansone served as Field Service Engineer and Project Engineer, providing engineering, testing, maintenance, and installation supports on various transportation equipment (wayside and rolling stock) including the high speed Penn Central Metroliner service.

NYU Poly
Adjunct Professor
Department of Civil and Urban Engineering - Adjunct Professor, 1988–Present Mr. Sansone lectures on the management of transit operations and maintenance. He has also lectured at the Polytechnic of Milan, Italy.
From: January 1988 to present

New York City Transit
Assistant Chief Mechanical Officer (1991 -2008)
For 37 years, Mr. Sansone has been in a leadership role at New York City Transit (NYCT) Division of Car Equipment. His roles over the years have included: Project Management; engineering; leading new car design and acceptance; program management for the remanufacture of 4,000 old subway cars; budget development; leading management performance oversight; managing staff and labor resources; managing training; oversight of Management Information Systems, Quality Assurance/Control, Facility Planning & Car Appearance; developing material standards; serving as AAR and consultants Liaison; performing Industrial Safety, Operations Review/Accidents Investigation; and managing road car maintenance/Emergency Response. Key manager in instituting a very successful reliability based scheduled maintenance system called SMS. As Chief Mechanical Officer, his responsibilities included managing the day to day activities of the Car Equipment staff, about 4,500 employees maintaining 6,500 passenger and 530 work cars in 13 maintenance, 2 overhaul, and 1 diesel shops. As the executive in charge, he directed the Car Equipment Facility Planning subdivision dedicated to the support of the above shops and several car cleaning facilities located at stations and yards; one of his key projects was the proposed 207th Street Overhaul Shop Reconstruction to rebuild the entire facility while also accommodating the overhaul of new technology roof mounted HVAC units. For 20 years, Mr. Sansone led the engineering and project management activities on the largest (about $6 Billion) and most technologically advanced vehicle procurements in the United States. His key accomplishments include: As the program manager and lead engineer of the R110 new technology demonstration program, Mr. Sansone instituted an “evolution not revolution” approach towards adopting technology, an approach that included real world evaluation before making long term investments. He made key decisions on the specifications, evaluations and final design of new vehicle technologies including the first network (Lon Works) controlled train lines, non-cab cars with trailer trucks, AC traction new communications and sign systems, new carbody crashworthiness designs, new interior and cab controls, fabricated truck frames, and improved maintainability. In order to efficiently maintain the new technology equipment, Mr. Sansone coordinated the modernization of the maintenance facilities and associated shop equipment. Using the information learned from the R110’s, Mr. Sansone led the planning, specification development, and procurement programs for several vehicles (New Millennium Trains) including the R142, R143, R160, and the R188 vehicle (CBTC ready trains), totaling over 3,500 new vehicles. While managing these projects with a technical staff of up to 500, he worked closely with numerous carbuilders and industry suppliers during all stages of the design development, fabrication, qualification and commissioning. Under Mr. Sansone’s stewardship, each successive program capitalized on the best practices and the lessons learned from the former projects, resulting in safest and most reliable rail cars at NYCT. Recent evolutions in vehicle technology at NYCT that Mr. Sansone oversaw include dynamic passenger information signs, linear motor door operators, laser welded carbodies, and concepts for vehicle light-weighting. The New Millennium vehicles remain the most reliable in NYCT’s fleet, significantly exceeding the reliability targets. At the same time, the entire NYTC fleet has an overall high level of performance as a result of the scheduled maintenance system (SMS) which had Mr. Sansone as one of its key founders. For the various NYMTA Sustainability projects among LIRR, MNR, NYCT, and NYC Bus, Mr. Sansone was the NYCT’s lead on the Energy / Carbon sub-committee. He evaluated concepts to improve vehicle energy efficiency and reduce consumption including optimizing vehicle regeneration and reducing vehicle weight. Mr. Sansone was also a member of the MTA Engineering Group among LIRR, MNR, and NYCT, an internal network, to discuss and resolve common technical issues and develop new car specification such as the M7 commuter fleet. He also provided technical support to the LIRR project management team during the warranty period of the Kawasaki C3 bi-level commuter cars.
From: January 1973 to December 2010

CH2M HILL
Program Management and Engineering Support
(Previously Booz Allen Hamilton 2010 – 2011) Mr. Sansone has been providing vehicle engineering and procurement project management expertise to the following rail and transit clients: Chicago Transit Authority (CTA): Project Manager for a bus maintenance study to improve efficiencies. New York City Transit (NYCT): senior advisor for R211 project, which includes a maintenance facility assessment for various train configurations. Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART): currently supporting the procurement of new transit vehicles, which are in the production stage. Santa Clara Valley Transit Authority (VTA): prepared ICE for BART procurement of a track tamper and stabilizer for the Silicon Valley Rapid Transit project. Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH): Project Manager for a 2012 Industrial Engineering Study to evaluate the impact of new rolling stock and signal programs on the short and long term maintenance needs. Study included a facility assessment, maintenance program, material and sourcing, staffing level and skills, and budget. Maryland Transit Administration (MTA): supported the review of subway car fleet replacement and procurement alternative options based on reliability of existing fleet, future service demand, and budget allowance. Also a MARC System Capacity Study for the Penn, Camden and Brunswick commuter lines. South Florida Regional Transportation Authority (SFRTA): provided contract award support for the procurement of new diesel locomotives. Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA): supported the new car procurement and provided engineering support to improve reliability of existing fleet. More recently, WMATA readiness status to return to ATO. Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA): advisory role for new car procurement. LA County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro): LRV maintenance program and feasibility study. Maryland Transit Connectors (MTC): support to upcoming construction contract for the new LRV Purple Line. San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) : maintenance study of LRV fleet. More recently a Fleet Appearance peer review which included, as a separate task, review of a labor relations issue on LRV inspection procedures. New Jersey Transit (NJT): evaluation of technical proposals to award a contract for the operation and maintenance of the River Line LRV service. Toronto Transit Commission (TTC): labor and material escalation audit of Bombardier proposal to TTC for the manufacture and delivery of ten additional Toronto Rocket trainsets. Currently a maintenance facility study for the Toronto Rocket truck overhaul.
From: January 2010 to present


Authored/Edited Books

 

Mr. Sansone has published four books including “New York Subways” that remains in print, and numerous papers and presentations for APTA, FTA, TRB, and UITP conferences. 

 


Mr. Sansone was a member of:

 

  • APTA:  Railcar Maintenance Liaison Board, Computer Applications Subcommittee, RAMD Subcommittee, Propulsion Control Group Fire Task Force

  • TRB TCRP:  Panels on Vehicle Window Glazing and on Vehicles' Standards,

  • IEEE Rail Transit Vehicle Interface Standards Steering Committee.

Mr. Sansone is the Founder and past chair of the New York Regional Railcar Consortium (NYRRC), Co-chair of LonMark Interoperability Association, NYC College of Technology Advisory Commission Member, and NY TCI College Railway Advisory Council Member.

 


  • Technical consultant to films/TV documentaries and expert witness on facts related to NYC subway.
  • Executive producer for documentary "From the A to the Z: 100 Years of New York City Subway Cars" which received a nomination for BETA TV Awards.
  • Subway Manager of the Year Award-2009, presented by the Transit Mangers Benevolent Association
  • Italian American of the Year - 2005, presented by the NYCTA Columbia Association
  • IEEE Engineer of the Year Award – 2003, presented by the New York Chapter of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
  • Vice President of the Class of the 50th National Urban Mass Transportation Management Seminar, 1989.