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Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner is stepping down after Department of Government Efficiency leader Elon Musk called for the transit service to be privatized.
Gardner, 49, said he stepped down “to ensure that Amtrak continues to enjoy the full faith and confidence of this administration.” Meanwhile, the Amtrak board said they “look forward to working with President Trump and Secretary Duffy as we build the world-class passenger rail system this country deserves.”
Gardner had served in the role since 2022.
Amtrak, also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, is the national passenger rail service for the U.S. It is nationally chartered, meaning the federal government is the majority stockholder. It also means Amtrak board members are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate.
The rail service operates in 46 states, two Canadian provinces and Washington D.C. Amtrak set an all-time ridership record last year, servicing more than 32 million customers.
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Musk called for Amtrak to be privatized, alongside the United States Postal Service, earlier this month.
“Basically, something’s got to have some chance of going bankrupt, or there’s not a good feedback loop for improvement,” Musk told the Morgan Stanley Technology Media & Telecom conference on Wednesday.
“We should try to privatize everything we possibly can, and that would be my recommendation,” he continued.
The DOGE leader called Amtrak “a sad situation” and went on to claim the rail provider “can leave you with a very bad impression of America,” when compared with similar services in other countries.
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But Amtrak has rejected criticisms that they’re not profitable — because profitability isn’t a goal of the organization.
“Amtrak is sometimes criticized because it is not profitable,” the company said in a March statement. “That criticism is based upon a false premise and ignores the facts.”
“Amtrak’s statutory mission and goals make no mention of profitability,” the statement continued. “Indeed, they make clear that profitability is not Amtrak’s objective, directing Amtrak to provide efficient and effective intercity passenger rail service that maximizes the benefits of federal investments.”
The rail company also attributed any operational losses to poor funding: “It is further belied by more than half a century of inadequate federal funding that has left Amtrak with aged assets that are not in a state of good repair and thus more expensive to maintain.”
