(Washington, DC) - “I was deeply disappointed to hear the news today of President Kummant’s departure from Amtrak.   My understanding is that his departure was part of a mutual agreement between Mr. Kummant and the railroad.  Personally, I enjoyed a solid working relationship with President Kummant, who demonstrated strong leadership at the railroad. 

I find the timing of his departure to be extremely poor, given that Amtrak has made great progress over the last two years during his tenure.  Moreover, the nation is less than two months away from a transition in the White House, and the time for a void in leadership at the railroad is anything but fortuitous.

Certainly, over the last two years when I took over the Chairmanship of the Railroad subcommittee in the House, and President Kummant took the helm at Amtrak, the railroad’s funding has been boosted tremendously.  However, he was up against tremendous odds, given the Bush administration’s track record with respect to funding (or lack thereof) of Amtrak.   Indeed, Mr. Kummant made major progress at Amtrak during very tough times; forged a strategic plan for Amtrak’s future, and worked in coalition with state DOT’s and other stakeholders to develop a stronger Amtrak network throughout the nation.    

With ridership last year at a record 28.7 million passengers, and with the recent passage of a comprehensive Amtrak reauthorization bill (legislation that will allow for $13.1 billion in passenger rail spending over the next five years) and next year’s beginning of TEALU reauthorization, I find the timing of his departure to be most unfortunate.”

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