New Amtrak OIG report reveals Amtrak’s initial requirements for new long-distance trains led to delays in program’s early stages

According to a new report from the Amtrak Office of Inspector General (OIG), Amtrak’s initial requirements for premium designs and amenities for its planned procurement of new long-distance trains added complexities to an already complex program and led to delays in the program’s early stages. 

The report credited Amtrak for establishing a program management framework for the program—Amtrak’s single largest equipment acquisition by cost and volume in its history—but complex designs pose schedule, cost and other risks. The OIG found Amtrak’s changes to initial design requirements and a delay in incorporating feedback from train manufacturers resulted in approximately seven months of delays. According to the report, the complexity of the program itself poses an innate risk of cost increases and additional delays and given the program’s significant size, any such increases or delays could have cascading impacts on Amtrak’s ability to accomplish other major capital projects and maintain its existing long-distance service. 

Amtrak has 765 cars in its long-distance fleet, with the oldest Superliner I cars being 43 –years old on average and the newest Viewliner II cars about 6 –years old on average. Amtrak plans to replace its entire long-distance fleet in four phases, with the first phase focusing on replacing close to 600 bilevel cars, including sleeper cars. To pay for the first phase, Amtrak plans to use up to $7 billion it received through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The OIG’s audit focused on phase 1.  

The OIG report notes that prior to developing its initial requirements for the new long distance equipment, Amtrak sent requests for information to car builders in December 2022 and July 2023, inquiring about experience with manufacturing bilevel coaches, sleepers, and food service cars, the number of car types that builders could manufacture at one time and experience building elevators on rail cars for passengers with disabilities.  

According to the OIG report, only one car builder said it could produce the eight to nine car types Amtrak planned to request, although the builder went on to state that doing so and delivering the cars as a trainset would lead to capacity constraints and program delays. None of the car builders who responded to Amtrak’s request had experience producing elevators inside of a trainset.  

In December 2023, after weighing the car builders’ feedback against its own market research, the OIG report revealed Amtrak decided to proceed with a request for proposal (RFP) that included nine different suggested car types, with elevators intended to increase accessibility on two car types, pushing the limits of what car builders said was feasible.  

The report notes that in response to several more rounds of car builder feedback, Amtrak in June 2024 began amending its requirements in the RFP both to reduce complexity and increase car builders’ flexibility to propose solutions. According to the report, Amtrak now plans to ask car builders to submit proposals for trainsets with fewer car types, likely five to seven, and include an option to deliver individual cars that could be interoperable with the existing fleet as a bridge to delivering the full trainsets.  

Amtrak OIG notes that since Amtrak is in the process of amending its requirements for the trainsets, the report did not make recommendations in this area, but it noted the more complexity Amtrak opts for in the acquisition, the greater its potential cost and schedule risks. 

The OIG did offer recommendations related to strengthening components of Amtrak’s program management framework to include reviewing and clarifying for all stakeholders the roles, responsibilities and lines of authority and decision making for each stage of the program, prioritizing filling key senior management and program team vacancies and updating the long distance program’s risk register to include contingency plans for high impact risks.  

Amtrak agreed with the recommendations and described actions and plans it will take to address them. The full report can be viewed on Amtrak’s OIG website.