Amtrak President Says Gateway Plan Is Better Than ARC Tunnel Proposal

Amtrak has been criticized for being too expensive and having service problems, but company President and CEO Joseph Boardman told NJ Today Managing Editor Mike Schneider he believes the future is bright. He said Amtrak covers most of its costs through fares and the transportation company allows the northeast to remain an economic center for the country.

Boardman said Amtrak offers the best deal that government has in the country for rail. “We cover 76 percent of our own cost out of the fare box and if you look at all the other revenues we take in, we cover 86 percent,” he said. “There isn’t any other railroad — commuter or anything else — in this country that covers their costs like we do.”

While some are still critical of Amtrak, Boardman said its needed. “If you didn’t have this railroad operating in the northeast, you wouldn’t have an economic center in the northeast the way it exists today,” he said. “And we wouldn’t hold on to this being the financial capital here in the northeast.”

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