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7/14/2026
David Hoffman, a senior advisor (emeritus) of PTSI Transportation, has died, company officials announced. He was 88.
A lifelong railroader, Hoffman started his career with the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad and advanced through the ranks of that railroad and its successors, Burlington Northern Railroad and BNSF Railway, from passenger agent to superintendent of commuter service. He later served as senior advisor to PTSI Transportation, a Rutherford, New Jersey-based railway and public transit consultancy firm.
Hoffman was instrumental in the development of the vital Chicago-Aurora commuter-rail service, PTSI officials said in a press release. He and the late Forester J. DuSell created zone schedules, developed new stations and service patterns, introduced a transit ambassador program and improved train dispatching, they said.
Following Hoffman's retirement, the street leading to the Aurora Hill Coach Yard, where he had once served as freight trainmaster, was named David Hoffman Way. He was also honored by the Chicago-area West Suburban Mass Transit District.
At PTSI, Hoffman had assisted in projects maximizing the value of assets owned by the district, PTSI officials said.
He is survived by his wife, Sylvia, a daughter, a son and several grandchildren.