CHESTERTON — Michael Noland, a former Metra commuter official in Chicago, is the new general manager of the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District that operates the South Shore Railroad.
The NICTD board approved Noland’s appointment unanimously Thursday. He received a three-year contract with an annual salary of $172,500.
Mark Yagelski, NICTD board chairman, said it wanted its new leader to stay in the job on a long-term basis, like his predecessor, Gerald Hanas, who’s retiring after 39 years at NICTD.
Noland, 54, a native of Glen Ellyn, Ilinois., begins work Oct. 27. Hanas will stay on through November, and the board approved a second motion to retain Hanas as a consultant.
Noland comes to NICTD at a crucial time as officials undertake a controversial South Shore expansion project in west Lake County and as the railroad begins compliance with a pricey federal mandate called positive train control that links railroad operations.
Noland, who rode the South Shore as a college student at the University of Notre Dame, spent 27 years at Metra. He rose in the ranks to deputy executive director and general counsel, Metra’s No. 2 position. He said he left voluntarily in 2010 after a fraud scandal erupted that led to the suicide of Metra executive director Phil Pagano.
Before his departure, the Metra board demoted Noland and reduced his salary from $175,000 to $132,000.
Noland said Thursday the Metra board wanted “fresh leadership.”
Noland went into private consulting, then joined Iowa Pacific Holdings, a private railroad company in Chicago.
NICTD conducted a national search for its new general manager, settling on Noland from a list of 54 candidates, Yagelski said.
From 17 interviews, the list narrowed to 10. “The top four were in such a high category, we did not go to the second tier,” Yagelski said.
“I feel extremely comfortable with Mike and his broad experience and talent in the commuter rail industry,” Yagelski said.
Yagelski praised Hanas’ tenure, saying he oversaw $500 million worth of improvements to the South Shore that runs electric train cars daily from South Bend to Millennium Park station in Chicago.
Noland, a 1982 Notre Dame graduate, went to law school at night while working at Metra. His wife is a teacher in Elmhurst, Illinois, and the couple have three children. Noland said he likely will rent a home in Northwest Indiana by Dec. 31.