Thousands of Amtrak workers will receive a $900 bonus before year-end, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced today.

“The Christmas is coming a little early this year for 18,000 Amtrak frontline workers, thanks to leadership who gave back their holiday bonuses,” Duffy said in the statement.

“The Trump administration is delivering LOWER COSTS and BIGGER PAYCHECKS,” he added.

Funding for the bonuses will come from Amtrak’s executive leadership team bonus packages, according to federal government statements. The administration urged executives “to forgo 50% of the bonus packages that would have been paid out under the misplaced priorities of the previous executive bonus structure.”

Amtrak reported setting all-time records for ridership and revenue in the 2025 fiscal year, with over $2.7 billion in ticket revenue from 34.5 million passengers.

The bonuses were welcomed by unions representing train workers. Mark Wallace, president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen National union, stated: “End-of-year bonuses will now go to 18,000 frontline workers rather than being limited to the executive ranks. This long-overdue recognition of the employees who keep the railroad moving is a step in the right direction.”

Transport Workers Union (TWU) International President John Samuelsen added: “TWU workers get a much-deserved bonus. The Amtrak suits sitting in offices get a much-deserved reality check.” He also noted, “Frontline workers make Amtrak run every day, not railroad executives.”

Samuelsen further explained: “This bonus acknowledges that fact and, for the first time in years, restructures the Amtrak budget to direct resources to workers on the line instead of into executives’ pockets. The TWU, in partnership with the FRA and our allies in Congress, has fought for this change since greedy executives at the railroad rewarded themselves while furloughing workers during the pandemic. Today is a major victory in that fight.”

The announcement follows ongoing controversy over the Trump administration’s decision to limit $10,000 bonuses to air traffic controllers and technicians with perfect attendance during the government shutdown — a measure that awarded only 776 individuals while leaving nearly 20,000 workers without payment.

At the time of the November announcement, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association union stated: “We are concerned that thousands of air traffic controllers who consistently reported for duty during the shutdown, ensuring the safe transport of passengers and cargo across the nation, while working without pay and uncertain of when they would receive compensation, were excluded from this recognition.”