WoodyinNYC
Conductor
This was Joe Boardman's last day as head of Amtrak.
I'm sure he knows better than anyone where he could have done a little better. But from here on the far outside, it looks like he done good.
To help remember him, a partial, incomplete, and random-order listing: Amtrak's ridership up by millions; much better fare-box recovery; improved On Time Performance; electronic ticketing; on-board Wi-Fi; 70 new electric locomotives; 70 Viewliner baggage cars; another 60 Viewliners in the factory; two Talgo trainsets at work on the Cascades; 90 or so cars salvaged from the wreck yard and returned to the fleet; new diesels coming to operate on the Midwest corridor services; corporate restructuring to emphasize the growing operating surpluses on the NEC; lower losses on the LD line of business; many improvements in ADA compliant facilities; no LD trains cancelled; extended service in Virginia and Maine; good labor relations; work underway to restore service on the Gulf Coast; improved stations big and small from Seattle to Beaumont to St Paul to Waterloo (Ft Wayne); plans readied to start increased and greatly improved, Stimulus-funded services by this time next year on the Cascades, Lincoln Service, Wolverines, Piedmont, and other corridors; and more and more. This final week saw the signing of the contract for $2.5 Billion worth of new, more, and better Acela trains and supporting infrastructure.
And all without the drama of the revolving-door C.E.O.s like we saw during the years before Boardman arrived.
Of course Joe Boardman didn't do all of this by himself. He seems too modest to brag much on himself any way. But by every measure I can think of, Amtrak is doing better today than it was when George W Bush appointed him to run Amtrak, back in November, 2008. We can all thank Joe Boardman for that.
I'm sure he knows better than anyone where he could have done a little better. But from here on the far outside, it looks like he done good.
To help remember him, a partial, incomplete, and random-order listing: Amtrak's ridership up by millions; much better fare-box recovery; improved On Time Performance; electronic ticketing; on-board Wi-Fi; 70 new electric locomotives; 70 Viewliner baggage cars; another 60 Viewliners in the factory; two Talgo trainsets at work on the Cascades; 90 or so cars salvaged from the wreck yard and returned to the fleet; new diesels coming to operate on the Midwest corridor services; corporate restructuring to emphasize the growing operating surpluses on the NEC; lower losses on the LD line of business; many improvements in ADA compliant facilities; no LD trains cancelled; extended service in Virginia and Maine; good labor relations; work underway to restore service on the Gulf Coast; improved stations big and small from Seattle to Beaumont to St Paul to Waterloo (Ft Wayne); plans readied to start increased and greatly improved, Stimulus-funded services by this time next year on the Cascades, Lincoln Service, Wolverines, Piedmont, and other corridors; and more and more. This final week saw the signing of the contract for $2.5 Billion worth of new, more, and better Acela trains and supporting infrastructure.
And all without the drama of the revolving-door C.E.O.s like we saw during the years before Boardman arrived.
Of course Joe Boardman didn't do all of this by himself. He seems too modest to brag much on himself any way. But by every measure I can think of, Amtrak is doing better today than it was when George W Bush appointed him to run Amtrak, back in November, 2008. We can all thank Joe Boardman for that.