AMTRAK: Top Management and Performance Challenges for Fiscal Year 2021

This report identifies our views of the top management and performance challenges facing the company. This year, the challenge of responding to the COVID-19 pandemic supersedes and permeates the company’s ability to address all other challenges. We believe the company will need to account for and adapt to these challenges and develop a strategy to position itself to become a transportation mode of choice in what appears to be a rapidly evolving national economy.

Despite the urgent pressures of this operating environment, there are also opportunities for the company to reimagine its future by taking a fresh, holistic view of its circumstances and the forces that affect it. We identified several longstanding challenges, summarized below, where the company has made progress, but significant work remains. Addressing these challenges will help ensure Amtrak emerges from the pandemic as a more efficient and effective company.

• Safety and Security: Assessing New Risks and Addressing Longstanding Challenges

• Financial Management and Stewardship: Using Resources Wisely and Being Good Stewards of Federal Funds

• Governance: Institutionalizing More Effective Management, Accountability, and Data-driven Decision-making

• Information Technology: Advancing the Company’s Capabilities and Addressing Cybersecurity Risks