So as of yesterday, Stephen Gardner was promoted to Amtrak President--officially the number two position--but as far as anyone is concerned, he's going to be pulling the strings alongside Board Chair Tony Coscia while CEO Bill Flynn is just going along for the ride.
In any case, Amtrak is heading into its 50th anniversary the same way it entered its 10th and 25th: In peril. The coronavirus pandemic has really hit all modes of travel but the leadership went overboard by implementing a known failed strategy by reducing the Silver Meteor to quad-weekly and every other long distance route other than Auto Train to triweekly. The cynic in me says that this regime will now be empowered to get rid of some overnight trains once they fail to meet the company's unrealistic projections and possibly follow Via Rail's model for (most of) the rest.
When I read stories like this, everything I said in 2013 stands. Amtrak has a management/institutional problem rather than a funding problem. At a time when European operators reversed course on cutting their overnight services, "America's Railroad" opted to cede certain markets to low priced and overnight bus providers. However, Capitol Hill, past White Houses and some state legislatures (*cough*Indiana*cough) share the blame for the shrinkage of the Amtrak system.
As far as the incoming Biden administration goes, optimists in the passenger rail community may cite the former vice president's frequent patronage as a senator, but he'll have plenty on his plate--namely tackling the virus. Will Congress actually do anything to make sure passenger rail no longer resembles a third world nation's system? Unless it actually funds the system and allows EU-style bidding like Germany, I won't be holding my breath when it comes to a new reauthorization bill next year.
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