Amtrak Fires President Days After Bad Report

Tenure Included Clashes With Bush Administration

Amtrak's board fired its president yesterday, nearly a week after a government investigation found repeated management problems with the rail service.

David L. Gunn's firing comes after a three-year tenure marred by clashes with the Bush administration over the direction of the financially beleaguered national rail service.

Amtrak Chairman David M. Laney praised Gunn's tenure but said that the railroad needed immediate changes and that Gunn resisted those changes. He said no particular event triggered the unanimous decision by the four-person board.

"It was more of the things that David was not seeing done or resisting from being done that led us to conclude that he's not the right guy at the helm as we try to move forward," Laney said.

David Hughes, Amtrak's chief engineer, was named acting president and chief executive until a permanent replacement is found.

Amtrak's management has come under heightened criticism recently. Last week, the Government Accountability Office issued a report that said Amtrak needed fundamental improvement in many areas, including cost control, goods and services purchasing, and overall accountability.

In response to the GAO report, Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta on Monday criticized Amtrak's operations and promised stricter oversight of the railroad's finances. He said he hoped the report would be a "turning point" that spurred the railroad to "clean up its act."

Gunn said he was surprised by the board's decision but suspected his job might be in jeopardy after hearing Mineta's comments. "It sounded like they were then trying to set up an excuse," he said.

Gunn said he believed he was fired because he opposed the board's plan to split off the Northeast Corridor into a separate subsidiary, a move that had been endorsed by the Bush administration. The Amtrak board's four voting members were all appointed by President Bush.

The plan was authorized by the board on Sept. 22, but the vote was not disclosed. When the plan was first reported last month, Laney said that separating the Northeast Corridor would allow Amtrak to better manage the high maintenance costs of the 456-mile line between Washington and Boston.

Amtrak has never turned a profit in its 34 years, and it has $3.5 billion in long-term debt. Its chronic financial problems have prompted calls for drastic measures.

The Bush administration has suggested ending Amtrak subsidies and turning passenger rail into regional services operated by the states with federal grants. The White House budget proposal for fiscal 2006 did not include any Amtrak funding.