Dear President Biden,

We the undersigned are grateful for your leadership in securing historic funding levels for passenger rail, but we join the Rail Passengers Association in its call for a clearer picture of your Amtrak Board nominees’ vision for the national network.   Just two of the five nominees appear to have any clear affiliation with, or advocacy for, portions of Amtrak’s service running outside the Northeast.

Thanks in part to the work of the Rail Passengers Association and its professional staff, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is about much more than just money. One of the most important reforms is contained in section 22202, which aims to make Amtrak's Board of Directors, the railroad's policy-setting body, more representative of the riding public by ensuring board representation across the Amtrak network (two from Northeast Corridor states, two from long-distance route states, and two from State-supported states), and requires more transparency through annual engagement with the disability community, Amtrak employees and the general public.

Amtrak’s trains run throughout the U.S. Southeast, the Southwest, our northern border with Canada, and the Pacific Coast, not just the Northeast & Mid-Atlantic, and Congress has taken steps to make “America’s Railroad” more responsive to Americans throughout the country - their governing Board MUST reflect that.