Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner announced on Wednesday that he will be stepping down from his position to "ensure that Amtrak continues to enjoy the full faith and confidence of this administration."
His decision follows comments from Elon Musk, head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), who recently suggested that both the U.S. Postal Service and Amtrak should be privatized.
Gardner, who became Amtrak's CEO in 2022, has worked for the company for 16 years. He was the 13th executive to lead the federally chartered corporation since its creation in 1971.
In a statement, the Amtrak board expressed its commitment to working with President Trump and Secretary Duffy, as the company seeks to build a "world-class passenger rail system this country deserves."
Musk, a Trump ally, recently shared his views on U.S. passenger rail during a speech at the Morgan Stanley Technology Media & Telecom conference. He criticized the state of Amtrak, describing it as "kind of embarrassing" compared to the rail systems in other countries. Musk argued that privatizing Amtrak would create a "feedback loop for improvement," emphasizing that "something's got to have some chance of going bankrupt or there's not a good feedback loop for improvement."
As a federally chartered corporation, Amtrak is majority-owned by the federal government, with its board of directors—including the U.S. Transportation Secretary—appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate.
Under Gardner's leadership, Amtrak saw a significant recovery after the pandemic, carrying a record 32.8 million passengers in fiscal year 2024, a 15% increase from the previous year. Ticket revenue also reached a record $2.5 billion, though the company still posted an operating loss of $635 million.
Despite this loss, Amtrak pushed back on Musk's privatization proposal. In a memo released in March, the company argued that criticisms of its financial performance were based on "a false premise," highlighting that profitability was never its main mission. Amtrak was originally created to support freight railroads, which were losing money on passenger service. The company also pointed out that heavily subsidized national railroads in other countries are not expected to be profitable either.
Amtrak further explained that Congress has mandated it to continue long-distance service to rural communities, which contributes to its operating losses. The company also cited decades of inadequate federal funding, which has left it with aging infrastructure that is costly to maintain.
Currently, Amtrak operates intercity passenger rail services in 46 states, Washington, D.C., and two Canadian provinces, covering more than 21,400 miles of routes. As of the end of fiscal 2024, the company employed over 22,000 people.
