Amtrak Pays Executives Hefty Bonuses as Losses Continue

Some executives received payments of nearly half a million dollars as the rail service remained $1.7 billion in the red and the new Acela program continued to face challenges.

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Amtrak posted $1.7 billion in losses in 2023 and paid out more than $5 million in short- and long-term bonuses to executives.

Fourteen Amtrak executives received more than $200,000 in incentive bonuses last year despite the service’s poor recent financial performance and struggles with its capital improvement projects, according to documents obtained by The New York Times.

In 2023, Amtrak paid out more than $5 million in short- and long-term incentive bonuses to its executives even as the passenger rail service posted $1.7 billion in losses, according to records obtained from Senator Ted Cruz’s office. Particularly problematic for Amtrak has been its effort to upgrade its service on the Acela, a popular high-speed express route between Boston and Washington, D.C.

“From delays for the new Acelas to annual shortfalls in the billions of dollars, Amtrak’s performance has been seriously deficient,” Mr. Cruz said. “It’s inexplicable that a dozen-plus Amtrak executives collected six-figure bonuses on the taxpayer’s dime.”

Amtrak says the executive bonuses are necessary to attract and retain talent and rail expertise.

Its incentive bonus program for 2021 came under intense scrutiny after The Times reported the company had paid about $2.3 million in bonuses when the rail service reported its lowest revenue and biggest losses in more than a decade. On Wednesday, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is set to hold a hearing to discuss two bills to increase transparency and accountability around the Amtrak bonus payouts.

Amtrak paid no bonuses in 2020 amid pandemic disruptions to the country’s passenger rail service and much of the travel industry. Since then, Amtrak has paid about $12 million in incentive bonuses.

Amtrak’s chief executive, Stephen Gardner, was among three executives who did not receive a long-term incentive bonus last year but did receive the largest short-term incentive bonus payout at about $320,000. Mr. Gardner testified in 2023 before a House panel that his annual salary was a little under $500,000 a year.

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