WASHINGTON The National Transportation Board has appointed New Jersey Transit and Conrail veteran Stephen J. Klejst as director of the Office of Railroad, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Investigation; and James H. Ritter as deputy director for the Office of Research and Engineering.
Klejst joined the NTSB in 2008 as a railroad accident investigator, and previously was in charge of accident investigation at NJT. He also held labor relations posts with the NJT. He began his railroad career in 1978 as a Conrail conductor, and also is licensed as a locomotive engineer.He was involved as one of three management members of in an earlier FRA-sponsored Close Calls program.
Ritters background is in airline accident investigations, but he also served as deputy director for NTSBs Office of Railroad, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials.