Former Amtrak CEO Joe Boardman Dies at Age 70

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Most people would be lucky to have a boss like Mr. Boardman.
Indeed.  My two brief interactions highlighted that.  One day he just randomly popped his head into the conference room at WAS where the MARC Rider's Advisory Council was meeting.  I got the impression he was headed home for the day but just stopped in to say hi.  Chatted for a bit and was on his way.  The second was at a reception-type event in the Starlight Room where he was apologizing for Amtrak's handling of a stranded MARC train a few days previously.  Chatted for a bit about LD trains and thanked him for placing the new Viewliner order and urged him to continue to support the LD trains.  Little did both of us know how poorly that order was going to go!!!

Deemed confirmed.
This is wholly unnecessary and something of a slam on the people that knew the guy personally that have already shared the news with us.  I'll believe KnightRail, Seaboard, and Jishnu over an article in Trains every day and twice on Sunday.
 
I emailed him one time concerning the future of the Southwest Chief. To my surprise, he replied to me personally from his phone from a train. We had several emails back and forth and it was just nice to get some information straight from the man himself. I even emailed him a few months later and he again replied to me personally.

Like someone else said, did not agree with everything he did, but it did seem to me he was genuine and did care about the future of Amtrak.
My cousin emailed him once also, and disagreed with his answer - but appreciated the fact that he took the time and care to respond. It's clear he cared very much about Amtrak, and that will very much be missed. Godspeed Joe Boardman, God bless him and all those he leaves behind (ourselves included).
 
I didn't agree with a lot of his actions, maybe I saw them the wrong way.  But life is fragile, and anything can happen quickly.  My God bless him and his family and friends, help all of them grieve.
 
Given the hand he was delt by Congress and to a lesser extent the board of directors he did a lot to keep Amtrak together.  He certainly did not roll over and play dead to Congressmen.
 
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What a loss for the rail community. He was recently quoted several times being a bit critical of Amtrak's current management, and I was hoping he would continue to do so. I was fortunate to see him speak at a TEMPO meeting in Chicago back in 2010 and also ended up at his table for dinner that night. So getting to pick his brain was pretty cool.
 
Took her a while, but Gray Lady has finally acknowledged Mr. Boardman's passing:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/11/obituaries/joseph-boardman-dead.html

Fair Use:

....

Bent on becoming a veterinarian like his grandfather and uncles, Joseph H. Boardman never forgot the epiphany that instead led to his becoming a state and federal transportation official and overseer of the nation’s passenger railroads.

“My dad walked one day with me out of the barn, and we looked at Route 69, which goes by our farm,” he told Railway Age magazine in 2013. “A Greyhound bus went by. There weren’t many people on it, and I thought, That’s kind of a waste of money.”

But his father explained that “there are a lot of people that need to get around that don’t have a car, that don’t have a way to get around,” Mr. Boardman recalled, “and it got me thinking about that fact and the necessity for connections.”

He later realized that his hometown, Rome, N.Y., had prospered only because “we had connectivity to the rest of the world” — a canal (the Erie), a railroad, a bus system. And during college, when he worked as a bus driver to make ends meet, he said, “that really started me in transportation.”

Mr. Boardman, who eventually became the president and chief executive of Amtrak, presiding over increases in ridership and revenue, died on March 7 in Pasco County, Fla., where his family had a vacation home. He was 70 and lived in Rome. His wife, Joanne, said the cause was a stroke.

Although his public agenda was mobility, Mr. Boardman had a track record for longevity. He was the second-longest-serving president of Amtrak, from 2008 to 2016. His years at Amtrak followed a record-breaking term, from 1997 to 2005, as New York State’s transportation commissioner.

“Putting butts in seats,” he once said, “has occupied most of my career.”
 
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https://www.progressiverailroading.com/people/news/Biden-recalls-Boardmans-Amtrak-leadership-funeral-services-announced--57090

Former Vice President Joe Biden, a longtime rider and fan of Amtrak, offered his thoughts this week on former Amtrak President and Chief Executive Officer Joseph Boardman, who died in Florida last week at the age of 70.

...

Funeral services will be held in Boardman's hometown of Rome, New York, at 11 a.m. Friday at St. Paul's Church. Visitation will be held Thursday at Barry Funeral Home in Rome.

Contributions in Boardman's memory may be made to one of his favorite charities: Unity Acres (2290 County Route 2, Orwell, NY 13426); Health Friends (1119 Elm St, Utica, NY 13501); or the Epilepsy Foundation.
 
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