It is becoming a revolving door, as there is ever less "there there" at Amtrak, as time. goes by. Moving people, as efficiently as possible, is the key to either profit maximization or loss minimization, depending on your goals, objectives, and limitations or input, so the fact that he comes from an airline makes little difference.

The last Amtrak "insider", in my opinion, formed from close observation, and his answers to important questions I asked, was by many measures a pretty dismal "business as usual" brand of "insider" failure. On the other hand, give poor Joe some credit for just keeping the mess running, none of the supposed CEO's at Amtrak have had any real vision or the resources to pursue one, for a very long time. And, so much for RR "experience", as an indicator of "success" at Amtrak.

Much of what is working in "intercity rail", as an actual transportation investment for the American traveler and taxpayer, is and likely will be, the increasing responsibility of Local and State corridors. T his is even ultimately true of the NEC, where billions in monies flowing through States and MPO's are quietly funding many improvements.

Amtrak is a very successful "brand" name, that never actually became a true "brand", but rather, was and is solely a reflection of how good/bad, reliable/unreliable, well managed, or poorly managed, the trip that you experienced, on a particular route or trip was. The places that provide true "transportation" are in the corridors where service is frequent and reliable, intercity Amtrak service, the worse for many parts of the nation, is none of that.

I wish the poor SOB the best of luck at Amtrak, he'll sure need it...........