February 22, 2026 - Special to TRA from RailPassengers.org -

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has revealed that it is directing Amtrak to undertake a dramatic organizational restructuring, breaking itself into three distinct operational entities within an umbrella holding company, focusing on operations, rolling stock management and leasing, and infrastructure management and construction. The FRA teased the restructuring at an event held by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Council on Rail Transportation last week. Additionally, Bloomberg covered expressions of concern from a leading labor organization that the potential restructuring could lead to the eventual privatization of Amtrak’s operations.

DC-based Rail Passengers Association received an initial briefing on the proposed restructuring from FRA officials, with more in depth briefings scheduled. The outline of the proposal, which will presumably be fleshed out through a public process over the coming months, involves the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (NRPC), currently doing business as Amtrak, acting as a holding company for three distinct and separate subsidiaries: an infrastructure management entity, a rolling stock management entity, and an operational entity.

Jim Mathews, President & CEO of Rail Passengers, issued the following statement in light of early reports on the potential restructuring:

When done correctly, there are potential benefits to a structural reorganization. However, the experiences of European and Asian railways tell us there are clear and present dangers to this kind of restructuring. If done incorrectly, it can lead to service reductions, elimination of routes, increased fares for passengers, and even degradations in infrastructure and safety.

Critically, in the absence of predictable and sufficient public funding, this restructuring is certain to fail. To the extent that this is an attempt to reduce public investment in the national passenger rail system, it will have predictable results: privatization of profits, socialization of losses, deferred investment in infrastructure, and the degradation of frequencies and service quality -- particularly for routes that serve rural and small town America.

Additionally, there must be buy-in from the U.S. Congress and States; any restructuring that isn’t done in conjunction with the Congressional debate over the shape of the surface transportation reauthorization and state-level network planning will be DOA.

Mathews said "Rail Passengers stands ready to be an active participant in the conversation over how, or if, this restructuring should take place".

In the absence of firm details, rail industry stakeholders are struggling to determine the downstream effects. Bloomberg reported that the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET issued a memo to its members sounding alarm over the potential consequences of a restructuring of labor agreements for the roughly 18,000 unionized Amtrak workers.

“Shifts of this nature raise legitimate and substantive concerns regarding the maintenance of qualifications, preservation of established work jurisdiction, crew utilization practices, pilot requirements, and, most importantly, the continued protection and enforcement of existing Agreement rights,” wrote Patrick Darcy, chair of the Amtrak General Committee of Adjustment for the BLET.

For its part, the U.S. Department of Transportation denies that the move is part of a privatization scheme -- though it has yet to release a detailed proposal.

“The Trump Administration is considering ways to strengthen and modernize Amtrak for the future, but privatization is not under consideration,” Danna Almeida, a spokesperson for the Department of Transportation, told Bloomberg in response to inquiries.

Read more including a comprehensive deep dive into the restructuring effort and how this has worked out in other countries: https://www.railpassengers.org/happening-now/news/releases/rail-passengers-statement-on-proposed-amtrak-restructuring/

Photo credit: Texas Rail Advocates at Fort Worth Central Station