Heat on Amtrak board for bonuses

Two House lawmakers are demanding answers from Amtrak’s board of directors after a Post report revealed the 10 highest-paid executives at the company were awarded six-figure bonuses — even as the rail network hemorrhaged money.

Republicans on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, in a letter to board chairman Anthony Coscia sent Wednesday, said the extravagant rewards — “paid largely from taxpayer funds” — were an affront to everyday Amtrak employees.

“Payment of lavish executive bonuses when Amtrak services and revenues remain below prepandemic levels, and financial losses appear permanent, seem inappropriate, wasteful and disrespectful to Amtrak’s nonexecutive, front-line employees and taxpayers,” states the letter.

Republican Reps. Rick Crawford of Arkansas and Sam Graves of Missouri, who signed the letter, noted the bonuses were doled out at a time of turmoil at the rail line, which they said had adjusted operating earnings of negative $789 million in 2020 and negative $1.03 billion in 2021.

They requested the board provide them with answers to five questions, including the metrics on which performance bonuses are based; how those compare with similar firms heavily financed by the federal government; and the board’s role in determining bonuses.

“Given Amtrak’s struggles are expected to continue indefinitely, we remain concerned about plans for awarding executive bonuses when the company expects billions of dollars in annual future losses,” the congressmen wrote.