George Warrington, the former head of Amtrak
who launched the Acela Express train service, died on Dec. 24 after
an eight-month battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 55.
A 30-year veteran of
the railroad industry, Warrington served as president of Amtrak
from 1998 through 2002, after spending four years as chief
executive of Amtraks Northeast Corridor route.
As president,
Warrington launched the Acela Express, the first high-speed rail
service in the U.S., which currently operates between Washington,
New York and Boston.
After leaving Amtrak,
Warrington became executive director of New Jersey Transit, where
was credited for bolstering the commuter rail systems capacity by
adding more than 100 trains and 100,000 additional
seats.
He also was a vocal
proponent of a $7.5 billion commuter train tunnel under the Hudson
River between New York and New Jersey. The tunnel is currently in
development.
Warrington is
survived by his wife Hope, son David and stepdaughters Brittany and
Kendall.
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