» Joseph Boardman Appointed Amtrak President

In a rapid series of surprise moves, Alex Kummant resigned as Amtrak’s President on Friday, November 14, 2008, with William Crosbie, Amtrak’s COO, immediately named by as Acting President.

Then on November 25, the Amtrak Board of Director’s announced that they had selected the current Federal Railroad Administrator, Joseph Boardman, as the new Amtrak President and CEO, for an interim period of one year.

Mr. Boardman is well known to New Yorkers, having served as Commissioner of Transportation for eight years during the Pataki administration. A life-long New Yorker, he was raised on a dairy farm north of Rome, which members of his family still operate.

In the statement announcing his appointment, Mr. Boardman stated “I am humbled that the board selected me to lead the company…Over the past decade — in one capacity or another — I have been an active participant in the affairs of Amtrak. I have come to know the company, the culture, a number of employees, and I am keenly aware of the challenges facing us right now. In my view, a national intercity, interconnected passenger rail service is critically important for the mobility and energy independence of the United States.”

ESPA congratulates Mr. Boardman on his appointment. We look forward to working with him on the unique challenges facing the Empire Corridor in the coming year.