Alexander Kummant was named by Amtrak on August 29 2006, as the railroad company's new president and CEO effective September 12. He succeeds David L. Gunn in this position who was dismissed in November 2005, and David Hughes who had been serving as interim president. Before Amtrak, Kummant had worked as an executive for Union Pacific Railroad (UP) where he fulfilled several Vice President roles. After UP, Kummant also served as Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Komatsu America Corporation. Before that, he was president of Bomag, the German manufacturer of road rollers and other construction material compacting equipment.

It appears that Kummant will be more conciliatory towards the survival of Amtrak in its current form than Congressional Republicans had been during the early 2000s. He does not envision Amtrak's separating the Northeast Corridor (the segment from Boston to Richmond) under separate ownership; nor does he envision shedding the long distance east-west routes of Amtrak.