Amtrak CEO forced to resign by Trump administration amid talks of privatization

The CEO of Amtrak resigned this week. Stephen Gardner submitted his resignation after the Trump administration asked him to leave.
Gardner said his resignation is effective immediately so that Amtrak will have the confidence of the current administration.
Elon Musk, who is overseeing the Department of Government Efficiency, has suggested privatizing the nation’s passenger railroad.

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[IL-]

“Forced” to resign is not asked to resign. That wasn’t straight as an arrow in titling this piece

[phoonsiri]

I'd love to travel by rail more often but it's not cheap.

[challox]

Right, because rail privatization worked so well in the UK...

[morganfbilbo]

Privatize? That's what they were before Nationalization. Back when they all went broke - trying to compete with planes, busses and trucks. We need transportation to be unified. Where the trains, busses, trucks, etc. are coordinated efficiently. Without all the competing. Some competition is good, but allowing unlimited competition is not.

[worth]

Amtrak should have services next to every interstate and hubs in every town over 100, 000. It should be high speed and have its own line with no other services on it. But instead we get a slow service that is second to freight because the freight rail companies own the lines.

[TheRailfan]

Airlines need subsidize too! No transportation system in the United States is private.

[bigvaxmeanie]

Soon tickets will cost as much as airline tickets

[uxhgbke]

If they privatize Amtrack, the government will still need to subsidy it.

[OceansEpilogue]

Lol, Amtrak cost 7$ from Miami to west palm. The privatized version cost 60$.
Can you guess how much Amtrak will cost soon?

[tencents]

...Who gave the Trump administration the right to do that?

[uxhgbke]

They need congressional approval to privatize it.

[dustyhedger]

Continuing to fund a hive of inefficiency and corruption does not guarantee passenger safety or accountability .

[wildswan]

Amtrak got new fast trains that they run on 100 year old tracks. The trains are breaking down so fast… Amtrak is so stupid that they had to bring in a team from Japanese National railroad to explain this.

[NCLOFFICAL]

It's not just Amtrak, Anything that has to do with transportation is loosing
money if there're going to cut Amtrak, then the interstate would be on chopping block as well.

[macharrington]

Amtrak is a mess and has been forever...they need new equipment and tracks

[dylanst]

Brightline does a good job and they are a private company they are already starting there 2nd project LA -Las Vegas

[bbrcummins]

Minnesota judge is stomping his feet right now 😳

[HobbitJack]

Let's get functioning national rail!

[cabchataroundbogota]

A Liberal Judge will demand he be rehired 😂🎉

[GauntletKI]

There is no easy solution for passenger rail in USA.