Amtrak CEO Steps Down

Elon Musk recently proposed privatizing the rail corporation.

Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner in Washington in a file photo. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

Amtrak’s CEO is resigning, he announced on March 19.

“I am stepping down as CEO to ensure that Amtrak continues to enjoy the full faith and confidence of this administration,” Stephen Gardner, who has been Amtrak’s CEO since 2022, said in a statement.

“I am so proud of what the Amtrak team has accomplished to bring passenger rail service to more people and places across the country over these past 16 years, and I thank the Board for their trust and support.”

Amtrak’s board thanked Gardner for his 16 years of working for Amtrak.

“We will build on his accomplishments and wish him every success,” the board said, adding that it looks forward to working with President Donald Trump and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to “build the world-class passenger rail system this country deserves.”

The White House declined to comment. Amtrak did not respond to an inquiry.

Duffy told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement: “It’s time for Amtrak leadership to clean up Union Station. It’s time to rid of our nation’s treasures of homelessness and crime. Commuters and travelers need to feel safe in our Capital.”

It’s not clear who is serving as Amtrak’s acting CEO and who will replace Gardner on a permanent basis.

Congress created Amtrak in 1970 as a federally chartered corporation, with the U.S. government owning the majority of Amtrak stock. The Amtrak Board of Directors is appointed by the president of the United States. The board chooses the CEO.

The Amtrak CEO sits on the board, as does the transportation secretary.

Amtrak, which operates rail services in Washington and 46 states, has never been profitable and reported a $705 million operating loss for fiscal year 2024.

“We have a history of recurring operating losses and are dependent on grants from the Federal Government to operate the national passenger rail system and maintain the underlying infrastructure,” Amtrak executives said in the company’s most recent financial report.

Amtrak says in its company profile that “it is not expected to be profitable.”

Trump during his first term proposed cutting funding to Amtrak.

Congress recently passed an appropriations bill that allocated $3.4 billion for Amtrak in fiscal year 2025.

Amtrak has recorded an increased interest in rail travel in recent years, including a jump to 32.9 million trips in fiscal year 2024—up 15 percent from the previous fiscal year.

Tech billionaire Elon Musk, who has been advising Trump, earlier in March floated privatizing Amtrak.

“I think logically, we should privatize anything that can reasonably be privatized,” Musk said at a conference. “I think we should privatize the Post Office and Amtrak, for example.”

He added later that the train system in the United States as it currently is will leave one “with a very bad impression of America.”