Amtrak is cutting about 20% of its top executives to reduce costs, according to people familiar with the matter, an uncertainty over President Donald Trump's plan to invest in infrastructure.
One of the people said the National Passenger Rail is a for-profit company owned by the federal government to cut costs by $100 million.
It eliminated about 450 positions and confirmed that the job will be cut along with other moves, which will save railroads $100 million a year, the company said in a statement.
Amtrak “identifies opportunities to align resources with the important work we have done for the United States,” the statement said.
The person said the layoffs began Tuesday and only affected company-level jobs and did not affect railway operations positions. The company said in 2024 that Amtrak employs nearly 22,700 people.
“Amtrak is conducting a comprehensive review of our cost structure, which includes evaluating the size of managers,” Amtrak President Roger Harris wrote in a letter seen by Bloomberg.
He wrote that the leadership program “notifies affected employees in the first half of May.”
The letter said Amtrak also implemented a freeze on management positions and a recruitment suspension for promotions.
One of the people said the efforts to grant grants before President Trump’s victory and consequent efforts have created doubts about the future of infrastructure planning, and the passenger railroad has been planning for months to cut.
Among the areas affected by the layoffs this week, an expansion unit within the railroad is designed to make some of its largest capital investments, including the new multi-billion-dollar rail tunnel in New York City and Baltimore, replacing the Susquehanna River Bridge and the Susquehanna River Bridge along the busy Northeastern River and other major construction projects.
The person said the tunnel and bridge projects are continuing to move forward so far, but some of Amtrak's future funding is now questioned – including the expected investment in the infrastructure bill of former President Joe Biden.
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