Transportation
Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner Resigns, No Successor Named Yet
Stephen Gardner announced his resignation from Amtrak March 19.
Photo courtesy Office of the Maryland Governor
Stephen Gardner, a longtime leader at Amtrak, resigned from its CEO role March 19. The move comes as the Trump administration has expressed dissatisfaction with the intercity passenger rail service.
“I am stepping down as CEO to ensure that Amtrak continues to enjoy the full faith and confidence of this administration,” Gardner said in a statement.
Officials have not yet named a successor or announced an interim CEO.
CEO Amtrak’s board of directors thanked Gardner for his 16 years of service in a statement, adding that, “We will build on his accomplishments and wish him every success.” A former Amtrak intern, he joined it in 2009 and worked his way up through several executive roles before becoming president in 2020 and CEO in 2022. Gardner also served as a congressional staffer, including for the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, and previously worked at the Maine Central Railroad and the Buckingham Branch Railroad.
National Railroad Passenger Corp., the for-profit, government-owned corporation better known as Amtrak that operates passenger rail service in 46 states and Washington, D.C., plus two Canadian provinces, says it reached an all-time ridership record last year, carrying 32.8 million customers and drawing $2.5 billion in ticket revenue. Amtrak has also launched a slate of infrastructure projects under Gardner's leadership, and says it invested $4.5 billion in infrastructure and fleet improvements last year.
Despite the growth in ridership and revenue, Amtrak has faced criticism from Trump administration officials. Reuters, citing two anonymous sources, reported that Gardner’s resignation was requested by the White House.
Earlier this month, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy wrote a letter to Gardner ordering Amtrak to increase security at Washington Union Station and to provide the Federal Railroad Administration with a crime prevention plan within 30 days. In his statement about Gardner’s resignation, Duffy only mentioned his concerns with Union Station.
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“It’s time for Amtrak leadership to clean up Union Station,” he said. “It’s time to rid our nation’s treasures of homelessness and crime. Commuters and travelers need to feel safe in our capital.”
Elon Musk, who is acting as an unofficial advisor to President Donald Trump, said earlier this month while appearing virtually at an event that he believes Amtrak and the U.S. Postal Service should be privatized, calling Amtrak “a sad situation.”
Trump has nominated Robert Gleason, a former head of Pennsylvania’s Republican Party and past member of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, to a five-year term on the Amtrak board. Gleason’s nomination is still pending Senate confirmation.
