Joseph H. Boardman (1948-2019)

[jhdeasy]

He departed this life on the morning of March 7, 2019. R.I.P.

[Gilbert B Norman]

Report by TRAINS Newswire.

Fair Use:

ROME, N.Y. — Joseph H. Boardman, Amtrak’s second-longest-serving president and CEO, has died. Boardman, 70, suffered a stroke while vacationing with his wife and family in Florida on March 5 and passed away early this morning, Amtrak announced......His eight-year tenure was surpassed in duration only by W. Graham Claytor, Jr. (1982-1993). During his time as CEO, Boardman initiated equipment purchases of 70 Siemens ACS-64 electric locomotives for the Northeast Corridor; 130 Viewliner II baggage, baggage dorm, sleeping, and dining cars (though he was troubled by CAF, USA’s repeated production failures); and 28 Alstom Avelia Liberty electric trainsets that are to replace Northeast Corridor Acela Expresses beginning in 2021.

[John_Perkowski]

Prayers for his family and friends, R.I.P.

[mmi16]

RIP Joe - Highball away!

[SouthernRailway]

He was an excellent president and will be missed. RIP.

[dumpster.penguin]

How did he get to Florida, is the question.

[Backshophoss]

Mr Boardman understood that both the long distance services along with the corridor services was the Complete package for Amtrak'
not Mr Anderson's corridors only idea,and was willing to seek help to keep the SW Chief on it's current routing.
He also understood what he needed to do to keep the Congress critters happy and how to work with the critters.
That was how he was able to order the ACS-64's,The Viewliner II's and the Acela II sets.
May he rest in peace.

[glennk419]

RIP Mr. Boardman and thank you for all that you did for passenger rail in the US. Condolences to family and friends.

[Noel Weaver]

Here was somebody who knew about AMTRAK but also CARED ABOUT AMTRAK. This is a huge loss.
Noel Weaver

[Gilbert B Norman]

Gray Lady took her time, but she has now acknowledged Mr. Boardman's passing:


https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/11/obit ... -dead.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Fair Use:

Bent on becoming a veterinarian like his grandfather and uncles, Joseph H. Boardman never forgot the epiphany that instead led to his becoming a state and federal transportation official and overseer of the nation’s passenger railroads.

“My dad walked one day with me out of the barn, and we looked at Route 69, which goes by our farm,” he told Railway Age magazine in 2013. “A Greyhound bus went by. There weren’t many people on it, and I thought, That’s kind of a waste of money.”

But his father explained that “there are a lot of people that need to get around that don’t have a car, that don’t have a way to get around,” Mr. Boardman recalled, “and it got me thinking about that fact and the necessity for connections.”

Mr. Boardman, who eventually became the president and chief executive of Amtrak, presiding over increases in ridership and revenue, died on March 7 in Pasco County, Fla., where his family had a vacation home. He was 70 and lived in Rome. His wife, Joanne, said the cause was a stroke.


Although his public agenda was mobility, Mr. Boardman had a track record for longevity. He was the second-longest-serving president of Amtrak, from 2008 to 2016. His years at Amtrak followed a record-breaking term, from 1997 to 2005, as New York State’s transportation commissioner.

“Putting butts in seats,” he once said, “has occupied most of my career.”

[ryanov]

One could get whiplash comparing the comments in this thread to the comments in the "Boardman blames Moorman for NYP Derailments" thread.

[Matt Johnson]

Sad news. My condolences to his family.

Biden recalls Boardman's Amtrak leadership; funeral services announced