Amtrak chief Joe Boardman has announced he will step down as national rail CEO next year.
He is planning to retire in September 2016 after eight years at the helm after ‘spending a lot of time considering,’ the decision.
He will serve out the remaining months of his current term while a replacement is found.
"I will have served nearly eight years as the president and CEO of our company. When I look back at this time, I see so many accomplishments and so many changes we made to make America’s railroad a stronger, safer and a more important part of our nation’s transportation system," he wrote in a letter addressed to the Amtrak board of directors.
"I think in the railroad business, all of us know when it’s time to retire. I hear this often from you when I travel around the system. It’s not easy to find people to work in an environment that is as demanding as running a railroad and providing good customer service."
Before taking the CEO position, Boardman was a member of Amtrak’s board of directors, and previously served as administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration during the George W. Bush administration.
