AMTRAK AT 50
A VERY
SUBSTANTIAL ROLE
A
mtrak’s 50th anniversary comes at a time when passenger rail transportation in the United States, even in the face of a global pandemic that has decimated ridership and farebox revenues, is poised to grow. Among the faithful who have never given up belief in the passenger train (in its many forms), hope and optimism prevail. Activity in the sector, bolstered by an intelligent, knowledgeable President, Joe Biden, who staunchly believes in rail and is a long-time 20 Railway Age // April 2021
user of the mode, is rising. For Amtrak, it’s an opportunity to increase ridership, add services, and build relevance within the broader transportation spectrum. Railway Age spoke with Amtrak CEO Bill Flynn and President Stephen Gardner about the company and its future. “We just cannot say enough about how great our frontline workers have been through this past year,” Flynn says. Adds Gardner, “The company has performed really well through this period, driven by the commitment of our employees, and also
our recognition that aggressive action was necessary to deal with a crisis of this magnitude. We had to make a lot of hard decisions as a team, our employees did every day. But as a result, better days are ahead. Our government has been a strong supporter through this, and we’re hopefully starting our way toward a recovery. In the meantime, we made a lot of investments and continue to focus our efforts on the important long-term strategic elements of our plan, which puts us actually in better shape in a way than we were beforehand. Our core railwayage.com
