Amtrak’s Moorman stepping down

Written by Stuart Chirls, senior editor, Railway Age
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Amtrak’s Charles “Wick” Moorman will step down from the co-CEO position effective Dec. 31.
Amtrak

Amtrak's Charles "Wick" Moorman will step down from the co-CEO position effective Dec. 31 and assume the role of senior advisor, starting Jan. 1, 2018.  

 

“The Board is grateful for Wick’s significant contributions since he joined the company, and we are pleased that he is continuing to serve as a senior advisor,” said Tony Coscia, chair of the Amtrak Board of Directors.

The former CEO of Norfolk Southern Corp., Moorman was hired to serve as a transitional CEO, coming out of retirement in September 2016. He was tasked with focusing on three objectives: improve operations, streamline the organizational structure, and find his successor.

The carrier in a release said over the past year that it has created a new organizational structure that improved operational efficiencies and the customer experience. Additionally, the company has achieved record ridership, revenues and earnings.

On Jan. 1, former airline executive Richard Anderson, who joined Amtrak in June 2017, will assume full CEO responsibilities in addition to serving as president.

“I have greatly enjoyed my time at Amtrak, and firmly believe that the company is well-positioned for the future,” said Moorman in a statement. “I look forward to continuing my work with Richard and the entire Amtrak team to further advance passenger rail in this country.”

The carrier recently unveiled concepts for high-speed equipment slated to replace Acela trainsets on the Northeast Corridor, and after delays has begun to add new passenger equipment built by CAF. New Charger locomotives built by Siemens have initiated revenue service on some trains operated by state agencies.

But Amtrak also took the brunt of some bad news since Moorman arrived. These included several derailments that necessitated emergency track repairs this past summer at its New York Penn Station hub, and incidents involving Amtrak trains including the deaths of two CSX crewmen outside Washington and two Amtrak maintenance workers at Chester, Pa., the latter pointing to what the National Transportation Safety Board described as a broken corporate safety culture.

Amtrak also has faced threats of defunding in Congress and this fall offered buyouts in an effort to reduce headcount.

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