Stephen Gardner

Stephen J. Gardner (born ) is an American transportation executive and musician who served as chief executive officer of Amtrak from 2022 to 2025.

Early life and education Gardner was born and raised in Arlington, Virginia. His father was Arlington's county manager. As an 18-year-old, he interned for Amtrak at Washington Union Station, measuring train speeds and checking conductor logs.

Gardner attended Hampshire College, studying physics, acoustics, political science, and transportation and graduating with a bachelor of arts.

Career After college, Gardner moved to Maine to work as a conductor and operations manager for the Maine Central Railroad. In 2001, he began an internship for the House Transportation Subcommittee on Railroads, later working as a legislative assistant and staffer for the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

He joined Amtrak in 2009, serving as its chief operating and commercial officer beginning in May 2019. He was named the organization's president in December 2020.

He became Amtrak's CEO on January 17, 2022, serving jointly as president and CEO until Roger Harris was named to the former role six months later. He oversaw an infusion of $22 billion in direct federal aid to repair and replace tracks and trains, as well as $44 billion in grants intended to improve U.S. passenger rail service, provided by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Among his initial priorities for the new funds was to pay off a $3.4 billion order for 73 additional trains constructed by Siemens Mobility.

Gardner testified to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on June 6, 2023 that Amtrak was at least five years from profitability, both because of the COVID-19 pandemic and because it was pursuing capital investments funded by the bipartisan infrastructure law. In September 2023, Gardner advocated to have Amtrak take control of Washington Union Station, noting the organization intended to make station improvements and return its headquarters to the building.

On March 19, 2025, Gardner announced his resignation as Amtrak's CEO, a move made at the direction of the Trump administration.

Music

Gardner became enmeshed in the DC punk scene as a teenager and played bass for the band Lorelei. Chessie's music employs tape loops featuring guitar and keyboards in addition to recorded samples. Although the band's aesthetic is inspired by railroads, Gardner told the Washington City Paper the band has never sampled a train, because "that's cheating."

The band's debut album "Signal Series" was named Amazon's best Dance and DJ album for 1998.

Personal life Gardner lives in Philadelphia with his wife and two children.