Author: Frank N. Wilner

Commentary

Will New FRA Administrator Be ‘Elbows Up’ on Defense?

WATCHING WASHINGTON, RAILWAY AGE APRIL 2025 ISSUE: As the dust settles following a tendentious Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) superintendency of Amit Bose, stakeholders await a successor—presumably, White House nominee David Armstrong Fink,

Commentary

STB Dems to Be Fired?

Will the President of the United States this week or next fire one or both of the Surface Transportation Board’s (STB) two Democratic members? Will Democrats Karen J. Hedlund and Robert E.

(Photographs Courtesy of the Respective Railroads)
Commentary

For Competing Railroads, What’s New Is Old

The reason we stay in school, pursue advanced degrees, merge and acquire competitors is to increase market power. The former two are celebrated by society, the latter two often derided negatively as

Commentary

STB’s New Chair Eyes Market Remedies

WATCHING WASHINGTON, RAILWAY AGE, MARCH 2025 ISSUE: Amidst the societal chaos midst the societal chaos unleashed on official Washington by POTUS 47, a point of light is his choice of six-year STB veteran Patrick J. Fuchs, age 37, to chair the independent (from Executive Branch) Surface Transportation Board (STB), whose five members are Senate confirmed with the President selecting one to control the docket.

Commentary

What does POTUS 47 Intend for NMB, NTSB and STB?

News Item: The President issued an Executive Order Feb. 18 asserting direct control of independent (from the Executive Branch) federal agencies, including the National Mediation Board (NMB, which administers the Railway Labor

Commentary

The Peanut Farmer Who Saved Railroads

WATCHING WASHINGTON, RAILWAY AGE FEBRUARY 2025 ISSUE: If you’re unaware that President Jimmy Carter, who died Dec. 29 at age 100, was instrumental in preserving private-sector railroading, blame it on your youth,

Commentary

Mr. Primus: Tone Down the Rhetoric

Surface Transportation Board Chairperson Robert E. Primus has rung a tocsin, alleging a toxin is skulking about in the rough-and-tumble environment of railroad-shipper relations despite the lawfulness of capitalist acts among consenting

Amtrak CEO Stephen J. Gardner. (Amtrak Photograph)
Commentary

Amtrak’s Gardner: His Legacy on the Line

WATCHING WASHINGTON, RAILWAY AGE, JANUARY 2025 ISSUE: He’s a 50-year-old railroad CEO without a private aircraft or opulent corner suite. Although he superintends the only transcontinental railroad, his compensation package is a fraction of that of his peers. Darting suit-jacketless about the office, dress shirt loosely tucked, he is easily mistaken for Stan from accounting. Don’t be fooled. Amtrak CEO Stephen J. Gardner, facing an ultimate test, is better prepared than any Amtrak CEO before him—and it’s not a B-List.