DOT Inspector General’s Report

On Monday, November 22, the Department of Transportation's Office of the Inspector General (DOT-OIG) released a Congressionally-mandated report on the state of Amtrak. The report, downloadable from the DOT website, paints a bleak picture of Amtrak’s deferred maintenance and encourages Amtrak to address these major issues. However, the report recommends that Amtrak do this by focusing on “viable” passenger operations: code language for eliminating most of Amtrak’s National Network trains. It also contains discussion of Amtrak's struggles in regards to on-time performance with little or no real solutions to fixing the problem.

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NARP issued a news release on Monday, critiquing the report. Below are excerpts from that release which should be helpful to rail advocates as they work to educate their elected officials about the real problems facing Amtrak:

• "While we agree that preservation and improvement of the Northeast Corridor and other short distance routes are vital, the money which could be saved by eliminating most or all national network (long-distance) routes would be insignificant when measured against corridor needs.
  
  "The national network accounts for about half of all Amtrak travel (in terms of passenger-miles). Eliminating that network, while preserving every existing short-distance service, would create a 21-state “system” of four isolated mini-networks (see graphic illustration above), weakening Amtrak’s ability to get federal funding. Key Republican Senators have repeatedly made clear that survival of the national network is essential for their continued support of Amtrak, and indeed have criticized Amtrak for spending too much in the Northeast.
  
  "Amtrak’s route structure is already so skeletal that further major route cuts would end all service to several major cities and states and bring charges that the cut was politically motivated.
  
  "Under Amtrak President and CEO David L. Gunn since May, 2002, Amtrak has contained costs, improved financial reporting, eliminated mail and freight express operations with the goal of improving on-time performance, made selected service reductions, and improved its credibility on Capitol Hill.
  
  "Gunn’s efforts have reinforced the increased national awareness after 9/11 of the importance of passenger rail. Those factors, plus record ridership in fiscal 2004, helps explain why Congress just agreed to fund Amtrak at the higher Senate-passed figure of $1.217 billion rather than splitting the difference with the $900 million approved by the House Appropriations Committee and requested by President Bush.

"The report refers to on time performance problems, but is silent on their diverse causes:

• "Acela Express--While some delays relate to infrastructure problems, others stem from improvement work Amtrak is actually undertaking (such as the New York City tunnels, badly needed infrastructure work in and just to the north of Washington Union Station, and track overhauls between Philadelphia and Wilmington). This type of work, applauded by the DOT in other parts of the report, is essential and often delays trains just as highway construction slows traffic. Still other delays result from highly publicized mechanical problems with the new trains that Amtrak is addressing; these delays arguably stem from questionable investment decisions by previous management, rather than federal funding levels.
• "National Network trains--Amtrak stopped handling mail partly in an effort to improve on-time performance, but the change just took place in early October 2004. In addition, the well-publicized capacity crisis facing many of the nation's private freight railroads has heavily impacted Amtrak trains. The DOT IG is silent on one possible remedy: a federal match for railroad infrastructure investment, similar to what highway and aviation projects enjoy. It is well established that, absent public investment, the share of freight carried on the nation's private railroads will decline, creating over time an unacceptable additional burden on our highways."