Karen J. Hedlund, former deputy administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), has been named director of public-private partnerships (P3s) in the strategic consulting group of Parsons Brinckerhoff.
In her new position, Hedlund will work with federal, state and local transportation agencies as well as private companies to facilitate financing and development of transportation projects through P3s. She will be based in Parsons Brinckerhoff’s New York headquarters.
“Karen is well known as one of the nation’s most skilled experts in public-private partnerships,” said John D. Porcari, senior vice president and national director of strategic consulting at Parsons Brinckerhoff. “Her expertise will be extremely valuable to clients who are looking to find innovative ways to finance and build transportation infrastructure with the help of the private sector. In addition, Karen’s nationwide experience in every aspect of passenger and freight rail issues is invaluable.”
Hedlund was appointed deputy administrator of the FRA in November 2011, after serving as the agency’s chief counsel from June 2010. During her tenure, she provided leadership for the administration’s $12 billion high-speed rail grant program, including $3 billion of investments in the California High Speed Rail Project and $3 billion in improvements to the Northeast Corridor. She advised on FRA-funded multi-state locomotive and passenger equipment purchases, and on California High Speed Rail and Amtrak next-generation trainset procurements, including consideration of Buy America waiver requests for non-domestic equipment manufacturers.
Hedlund also oversaw the FRA’s Railroad Rehabilitation and Infrastructure Finance (RRIF) program, including review of loan requests to finance new passenger rail systems from Las Vegas, Nevada to California and from Miami to Orlando, Florida as well as implementation of positive train control systems for Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad.
Hedlund served as chief counsel of the Federal Highway Administration in 2009-2010, where she directed a legal staff in the implementation of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grants to all 50 states. Before joining the federal government she was a partner of the law firms Nossaman, LLP; Skadden Arps; and Mayer Brown.
Hedlund led the legal advisory team on P3 projects such as the Silver Line extension of the Washington, D.C. Metrorail system; the Port of Miami Tunnel; the T-REX light rail in Denver; the Triangle Expressway in North Carolina; and the Hudson-Bergen light rail in New Jersey.
She served on the board of Moynihan Station Development Corporation in New York City, which will redevelop the James A. Farley Post Office Building into a new rail station for Amtrak and a mixed-use development. She also previously served as a board member of Union Station Development Corp. in Washington, D.C. She was also a member of the Credit Council of the U.S. Department of Transportation, which oversees the department’s credit programs.
Hedlund received a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center and a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University.
