“The Board members came in this morning and asked me to resign. I refused, so they fired me,” Gunn said in a Nov. 9 interview with Railway Age Editor William C. Vantuono.

  “I feel at least that I did the right, honorable thing. I wasn’t going to abandon our people.” He said that the Bush Administration’s people wanted to implement their plan, which is destroying Amtrak. “I stood in their way,” he said. “That's why they fired me…”

   Ridership at Amtrak is at an all-time high, but the Bush administration wants it to operate without subsidies.  Now even generally unquestioning reporters are noting that other modes of transportation require government support and that Amtrak’s budget is less than a drop in the federal bucket.  “If you want an example of getting fired for producing good numbers, this is it,” he said. “It’s an upside-down world we live in…”

   “Anything they all tell you is bullshit,” Gunn told Railway Age. He cited the 93-6 vote in the Senate approving an Amtrak reauthorization bill earmarking nearly $12 billion over the next few years as evidence the administration is out of step with the country.  “The Administration is serious about taking this place apart…”

Gunn told Railway Age the Bush administration is in a rush to dismantle Amtrak. “They have to do a lot of the dirty stuff this year, because next year is an election year, and what they've got in mind will be very unpopular.”  Gunn predicted major service cuts within the next few months.   www.railwayage.com 

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