Amtrak Gets A(nother) New President

Wasting no time, Amtrak’s board of directors today named Joseph Boardman as Amtrak’s new president. He replaces Alex Kummant, who quit a couple of weeks ago after being on the job for just two years. Kummant, we now learn, had had an increasing number of disagreements with board members and apparently decided to jump before he was pushed.

The word is, this guy Boardman knows his stuff. He was head of the Transportation Department in New York State and has been the top guy with the Federal Railroad Administration for the past three years. All of which means he can — in the vogue phrase these days — “hit the ground running.” And a good thing, too, because he was appointed today and takes over at Amtrak …tomorrow!

Boardman will serve for one year, during which time the Amtrak board will launch a search for a permanent president and CEO.