President of Amtrak Is Said to Oust 5 of Its Top Officials

[DeclinetoState]

By MATTHEW L. WALD (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/w/matthew_l_wald/index.html?inline=nyt-per)
Published: December 16, 2006

<!--NYT_INLINE_IMAGE_POSITION1 --> <nyt_text> </nyt_text>WASHINGTON, Dec. 15 — In an unusually large management shake-up, the new president of Amtrak fired four top officials Friday and put a fifth in a 90-day temporary position, current and former officials of the railroad said.

Amtrak said it would have an announcement on Monday that would deal with changes in personnel and corporate strategy, but a spokesman said he could not confirm the firings.

The president, Alexander K. Kummant, who took over in September, acted two months after Amtrak’s inspector general reported that its legal department had mismanaged contracts with outside lawyers. Among those who lost their jobs in the shake-up was the railroad’s general counsel and corporate secretary, Alicia M. Serfaty, who was made a legal counsel to Mr. Kummant himself for the next three months, the current and former officials said.
NY Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/16/washington/16amtrak.html)

[BEST45CAL]

NY Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/16/washington/16amtrak.html)
Gosh, I remember when they started that thing. What a mess. I don't think they've ever made a profit. lol

Look at their routes! What a joke! lol
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a0/Amtrak_Routes.svg/300px-Amtrak_Routes.svg.png

[DesertFox]

The service is awful. Though the train goes not much faster than you would in your car, you pay as though you were taking a plane. My sister took Amtrak last summer to visit me. She was using the latrine and the attendant accused her of smoking in there. My sister denied it and the bitch actually opened the door to the latrine to check. I told my sister she should sue, but she's a gentle soul and just wrote an irate letter to Amtrak.

[DeclinetoState]

My sister took Amtrak last summer to visit me. She was using the latrine and the attendant accused her of smoking in there. My sister denied it and the bitch actually opened the door to the latrine to check.Any female attendant checks up on me while I'm in the can and she'll get an eyeful.

Amtrak routes should be determined by customer demand, not political expediency. Unfortunately, Amtrak is a mini-socialist experiment. If we were ever to get Hillary-care or the like, do you think it would be any more efficient?