While familiarity with railroading is a plus, it is not necessary for top manger. As long as that business degree person knows how to find, hire and promote people with the right railroad knowledge, they will do fine. The current situation is due primarily to hiring and promotions being decided in Trenton by connections as opposed to by the people running the railroad and by merit.
We will wait and see, but I hope that those of upper management who did not deserve to be at NJT in first place get shown the door quickly. It is hard to imagine the replacements being worse.