A veteran of the industrial railroad business this month moved to the passenger side of the industry to take over as Amtrak's CEO.
Alexander Kummant, the former regional vice president of the Union Pacific Railroad and more recently a top executive with construction supplier Komatsu America Corp., assumed CEO duties Sept. 12. His appointment in late August followed a nine-month search by Amtrak's board of directors.
During that search, the railroad, a popular link for business travelers between Boston, New York and Washington, D.C., was without a permanent CEO. David Gunn was removed from the position last November. David Hughes, a former chief engineer for Amtrak, served as interim CEO following the ouster.
Hughes decided to leave the company after the announcement of the permanent CEO.
Amtrak chairman David Laney expressed hope that Kummant could improve the railroad's customer focus and its fiscal responsibility. The federally funded railroad has faced years of financial difficulty and repeated calls from the Bush administration to end its subsidization.
The U.S. Senate in July approved $1.4 billion in funds for Amtrak, an amount that must be reconciled with the $1.1 billion approved by the U.S. House of Representatives in June
(BTN, July 31). Amtrak currently receives a $1.3 billion subsidy. The Senate measure also contains a provision that would bar the railroad from moving some jobs overseas.