Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner has resigned, after reportedly being asked to do so by the White House.
Gardner was told to step down by United States President Donald Trump’s administration, Reuters reported. Elon Musk, who leads the administration’s Department of Government Efficiency organisation, also called for the national passenger rail company to be privatised earlier this month.
“I am stepping down as CEO to ensure that Amtrak continues to enjoy the full faith and confidence of this administration,” said Gardner.
“We look forward to working with President Trump and Secretary Duffy as we build the world-class passenger rail system this country deserves,” Amtrak’s board of directors said.
Gardner had served as Amtrak’s CEO since 2022, after joining the company in 2009. He was also Amtrak’s president from 2020 to 2022.
Musk said at a Morgan Stanley technology conference this month that services like Amtrak and the U.S. Postal service should be privatised. “I think we should privatise anything that can be privatised,” he said. “Basically, something’s got to have some chance of going bankrupt or there’s not a good feedback loop for improvement.”
Amtrak released a white paper in response, saying: “It is not clear what proponents of Amtrak privatisation expect it would accomplish. A private entity would face the same constraints as Amtrak, but it would lack Amtrak’s essential statutory right to operate over the national rail network."
“Privatisation would not change the fact that giving the United States the passenger rail system it needs will require substantial, assured, multi-year federal funding for Amtrak and intercity passenger rail,” it said.
While Amtrak is a for-profit enterprise, the U.S. government is its majority shareholder. Its board of directors is appointed by the president with Senate confirmation, and must include the Secretary of Transportation.
Amtrak’s trip numbers reached a record high of 32.8 million in 2024, with passenger revenue rising by 9% to US$2.5 billion.
It has been seeking to add a fleet of new Acela trains to its Northeast Corridor lines, thought this has been delayed several times. While the new trains were originally scheduled to begin services in 2021, Amtrak said in November that the projected launch date would be in the spring of 2025.
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