All Aboard!
Welcome Aboard
and Happy Holidays
As we join family, friends and loved ones
this holiday season, we also reflect on all the
things for which we are thankful. Personally,
I’m thankful for my wonderful family and the
family I’ve built here at Amtrak. I’m passionate
about passenger rail, and I am thankful for the
opportunity to work with thousands of dedicated and talented employees who share that
passion. Our employees really care about what
they do and strive to deliver safe, comfortable
and reliable service to millions of Americans.
As a company, we are all thankful for you, our
customers, who choose to include Amtrak as
part of your holiday season or your business or
leisure travel.
One way we’d like to show our appreciation
is to offer a Double Points promotion to Amtrak
Guest Rewards® members for all travel through
Dec. 19. We recently celebrated the enrollment
of our two-millionth member, and I invite you
to visit AmtrakGuestRewards.com to join them
for access to special offers on train travel, hotel
stays, car rentals and much more.
Thanksgiving is by far our busiest week
of the year, and we’ve been planning for it for
months. As we do every year, we have added
departures and extra cars to accommodate the
demand—last Thanksgiving we carried 655,000
riders in just six days. This year, we are better
prepared to accommodate the holiday travel
surge thanks to the numerous infrastructure
improvements we’re making on the railroad.
For the first time in Amtrak history, we have
two Track Laying Machines working at the same
time along our Northeast Corridor to allow for
more pleasant, reliable service. In addition to
track improvements, we’re also adding refurbished cars and locomotives to our fleet. On
our Acela Express trainsets, we’re in the process
of installing leather seats, new carpets and new
café cars.
Funding for these projects is coming partly
from our own capital improvement budget,
but also from the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act, which has allowed us to hire
hundreds of new employees to repair equipment, improve customer service and upgrade
our stations. We understand the responsibility
that comes with using stimulus funding—and
it’s one we take very seriously. We are thankful for your help in providing the resources to
improve the country’s railroad while we do our
part in helping improve the country’s economy.
All this work means that our Northeast
Corridor schedules will be shifting throughout the year. We’re doing our best to minimize the inconvenience to you as we make
these improvements, and we appreciate your
patience and understanding. You can get the
latest schedules and fares by asking a ticket
agent, visiting Amtrak.com, or calling us toll-free at 800-USA-RAIL.
I want to thank you for making us part of
your day, and I hope to welcome you aboard
again soon. I wish you a safe and happy holiday
season. In the meantime, if there’s anything we
can do to make your trip better, please don’t
hesitate to ask a member of our crew.
Sincerely,
JOSEPH H. BOARDMAN
