Alexander Kummant

Alexander K. Kummant (born 1962)[1] was named by Amtrak on August 29, 2006, as the railroad company's new president and chief executive officer effective September 12 of that year. He succeeded David L. Gunn in this position who was dismissed in November 2005, and David Hughes who had been serving as interim president. Kummant submitted his resignation from Amtrak on November 14, 2008.[2][3] He graduated from Case Western Reserve University's engineering school in 1982.[4]

Before working for Amtrak, Kummant had worked as an executive for Union Pacific Railroad (UP) where he fulfilled several Vice President roles.[5] After UP, Kummant also served as Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Komatsu America Corporation.[6] Before that, he was president of BOMAG, the German manufacturer of road rollers and other construction material compacting equipment.[7]

As Amtrak president and CEO, Kummant was more conciliatory towards the survival of Amtrak in its current form than Congressional Republicans had been during the early 2000s. During his term, he did not support Congressional proposals to split the Northeast Corridor (the segment from Boston to Richmond) from the rest of Amtrak's operations; nor did he envision shedding the long distance east-west routes of Amtrak.[8]

Kummant submitted his resignation on November 14, 2008. Upon his resignation, Amtrak COO William Crosbie assumed the role of interim CEO, but was succeeded on November 25 by former FRA administrator Joseph H. Boardman.[2][3]

Don Phillips claims that inside sources indicate that Kummant did not in fact resign voluntarily, but was made to quit because of a dispute with the board of directors about debt restructuring.[9]

In October 2012, Kummant was recruited by QR National in Australia, becoming Executive Vice President Strategy.[10]

References

  1. ↑ "Alexander K. Kummant". Amtrak. 2008. Retrieved August 29, 2008.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 John Hughes and Angela Greiling Keane (November 14, 2008). "Amtrak Chief Kummant Is Said to Be Leaving Railroad". Bloomberg. Retrieved November 15, 2008.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Amtrak Statement" (Press release). Amtrak. November 14, 2008. Archived from the original on 29 December 2008. Retrieved November 15, 2008.
  4. ↑ johnson, emma. "Full Speed Ahead". "Case Western Reserve University".
  5. ↑ "Amtrak hires former rail exec as new president, CEO". Reuters. August 29, 2006. Retrieved August 30, 2006.
  6. ↑ "Veteran Rail and Industrial Executive Alexander Kummant Appointed Amtrak President and CEO" (Press release). Amtrak. August 29, 2006. Retrieved August 30, 2006.
  7. ↑ "Amtrak names a new president". Railway Age (Simmons-Boardman Publishing): p. 26. September 2006. ISSN 0033-8826.
  8. ↑ Matthew Wald and John Philips (December 23, 2006). "Surprising Forecast for Amtrak". New York Times.
  9. ↑ "Kummant was forced out". Trains. 2008-11-14. Archived from the original on 21 November 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-18.
  10. ↑ "QR National appoints global railway executives". QR National. 23 October 2012.
Business positions
Preceded by
David Hughes		 President of Amtrak
2006 – 2008 		Succeeded by
William Crosbie (interim), Joseph H. Boardman