I believe the main overarching issue here is communication. Many public transportation companies in the U.S., including Amtrak, are absolutely terrible at it. They create many more "never again" riders than they need to if they would just give a little bit of communication, even if there is no update, status, or progress. People talk, especially if they have had a bad experience.
This, along with customer service consistency closely followed by on-time performance, is the issue that should be of utmost importance and priority to Amtrak. Unfortunately, even with the new regime, it seems that is not the case.