Maria Stahley Named a Rising Railroad Star 

Burns Railroad and Transit Communications Specialist Maria Stahley has been named a 2025 Rising Star by Progressive Railroading. Out of the 130 industry professionals submitted for consideration this year, Maria was one of 25 who received this prestigious honor. 

The magazine defines a “Rising Star” as someone under the age of 40 who is making a positive impact on their company, organization, department or team, and is viewed as an up-and-coming leader in the rail industry. Award winners were chosen based on their contributions to railroading, as well as their career achievements, demonstrated leadership, professional association activity, and community involvement. 

Using her superior ability to balance leadership and technical skills, Maria has established herself as a rising rail industry talent by successfully managing complex, multimillion-dollar rail projects, playing a major role in establishing industry best practices, and working to create pathways for underrepresented groups in engineering and rail systems.     

During her tenure at Burns, she has been able to help build the communications practice, lending her expertise to a wide variety of vital and innovative rail projects that propel clients like Amtrak, MBTA, SEPTA, and GCRTA into the future. These projects include Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor Fiber Optic Transport Network and RailDS ACSES Download Tool projects, MBTA’s Automatic Train Control Ground-Based Network Design project, SEPTA’s SCADA Traction Power Upgrade project, and GCRTA’s Blue and Green Line Fiber Optic System Design project. 

Maria and the other Rising Star honorees will be profiled on Progressive Railroading’s website in the summer and recognized in the magazine’s September issue.