The Washington PostDemocracy Dies in Darkness

Amtrak President Joseph Boardman says he plans to step down next year

December 11, 2015 at 5:37 p.m. EST
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chairman Christopher Hart, left, talks with Amtrak President and CEO Joseph Boardman, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 2, 2015, prior to testifying before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee oversight hearing of the Amtrak train derailment in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

After almost eight tumultuous years at the helm, Amtrak President Joseph H. Boardman says he plans to step down from the job
next September.

Boardman, 66, sent a letter to Amtrak workers this week saying he had informed Amtrak’s board of his intention to retire.

“When I look back at this time, I see so many accomplishments and so many changes we made to make America’s railroad a stronger,
safer and a more important part of our nation’s transportation system,” Boardman said in the letter.

His years running the railroad coincided with the rise of a relatively small but vocal chorus on Capitol Hill that questioned
whether a congressionally created but privately run passenger rail system should continue to receive massive federal subsidies.
Amtrak will receive more than $8 billion in the next five years under the surface transportation bill signed into law last
week

Last year, the railroad ran $227 million in the red, the lowest amount it has lost in its 45-year history.

Boardman and his lieutenants regularly were summoned to hearings to account for Amtrak’s perceived shortcomings.

Former House Transportation Committee chairman John L. Mica (R-Fla.), who spent his college summers working on the railroad,
never missed a chance to denounce Amtrak as “a Soviet-style railroad with Soviet-style operations.”

Boardman was called back once more this year after an Amtrak train traveling at more than twice the speed limit derailed
in Philadelphia, killing eight people and injuring more that 200, 11 of them critically.

Despite the acrimony of Mica and some others in Congress, Boardman generally was well received by most members, and surveys
suggested the railroad was well regarded by the majority of its passengers.

“Joe Boardman is a good friend who had led Amtrak through difficult times and many changes,” said Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Calif.),
who chairs the House subcommittee on railroads. “He has been instrumental in writing many of the reforms recently signed into
law. His hard work and dedication will be missed.”

The railroad operates more than 300 trains daily on 21,300 miles of track, reaching 46 states and three Canadian provinces.
Outside of the corridor between Washington and Boston, most of the rail that it runs on belongs to freight railroad
companies. Outside of the Northeast Corridor, most of its routes operated at a loss.

Boardman, who was raised on an upstate New York dairy farm, spent more than three years running the Federal Railroad Administration
before taking the job with Amtrak. Prior to the FRA, he was commissioner of the New York State Department of Transportation.

“For those of you who know me, you know a decision like this is something that I spent a lot of time considering,” Boardman
said in his letter to Amtrak employees. “Yet, I think in the railroad business, all of us know when it’s time to retire.”

He said that he gave the board almost 10 months notice of his planned departure to allow them time to find a successor.

“The other reason why I want to work well into 2016 is because there are things I want to get done on my watch, and they include
critical and important investments both in the future of our service and the safety of our railroad,” he wrote. “Early next
year, we expect to place an order for the next generation of high speed trainsets in North America. When they are delivered
they will instantly add capacity and the newest technology available to our passengers.”