Amtrak announces the promotion of Roger Harris and Gerhard Williams

Credit: Amtrak - Roger Harris (left) and Gerhard Williams (right)

Stephen Gardner, Amtrak CEO, has announced the promotions of Roger Harris to President and Gerhard (Gery) Williams to Executive Vice President of Service Delivery and Operations, effective 5 July 2022.

“Amtrak has entered an exciting new era of growth and development, with more opportunities than ever before,” Stephen Gardner, CEO of Amtrak, said. “The appointments of Roger to President and Gery to Executive Vice President of Service Delivery and Operations by our Board will help the company accelerate our progress in recovering, growing and transforming the business.”

As President, Harris will directly report to Gardner and lead the coordination of the service delivery and operations, marketing, customer service, network planning, real estate, and accessibility functions of the company. Roger and his team will be dedicated to improving the delivery of Amtrak’s services and the experience it provides its customers and partners, while ensuring the integration of critical functions that market, sell, plan, design, and deliver its services to our current and future customers.

Harris has served as Chief Commercial Officer in charge of marketing and revenue since April 2019. He is a proven leader with more than 25 years of experience in the transportation industry, expertise across all commercial functions, and decades of collaboration with various operating functions to create field-tested product improvements built around the needs of customers. Reporting to Harris will be Williams, Executive Vice President, Service Delivery and Operations; Dennis Newman, Executive Vice President, Strategy & Planning, and his current direct reports, while a new Chief Commercial Officer is sought.

Williams is succeeding Scot Naparstek, who is retiring to Texas after 10 years of service to Amtrak, including serving in this role since January 2017, where he successfully led Amtrak Operations through the many challenges of the COVID-19 Pandemic while delivering major safety improvements, such as the implementation of Positive Train Control safety technology across the Amtrak network and the U.S. rail industry’s first FRA-approved Safety Management System. Williams will be responsible for leading the strategic development of Amtrak’s operating capabilities, including the transportation, mechanical, infrastructure, and customer service functions, as well as overseeing the day-to-day delivery and improvement of services to Amtrak customers onboard its trains and in its stations.

Williams is a proven leader in the railroad industry, with more than 30 years of experience. Since January, he has served as Senior Vice President, Service Delivery & Operations and joined Amtrak in June 2017 as Vice President and Chief Engineer responsible for the maintenance, construction, and delivery of Amtrak’s railway infrastructure assets, including the Northeast Corridor. Prior to Amtrak, he held a wide range of senior leadership roles with CSX, including Vice President, Mechanical, Chief Mechanical Officer, and AVP Network Operations – Locomotive Management.