OIG report: Amtrak has more work to do to improve state partnerships

Amtrak’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) yesterday reported that while the railroad has addressed some challenges involving its relationship with state partners, it needs to address concerns about cost-sharing on state supported routes.

The OIG report stated that the following challenges persist:

• conflicting perspectives between Amtrak and state partners about control over decision-making;
• unaddressed issues with cost-sharing methodology; and
• concerns that Amtrak does not have effective quality control regarding its cost-calculation and bill-development processes.

These challenges have affected state partners’ trust in the company, the OIG reported. A survey resulted in one-third of state partners having high trust in Amtrak’s cost-sharing program, one-third had moderate trust and one-third had low trust. The discussions on cost-sharing methodology are congressionally mandated.

The OIG recommended that Amtrak work with state partners and the Federal Railroad Administration through the State-Amtrak Intercity Passenger Rail Committee to discuss decision-making and company support levels. The railroad should also clarify and document decisions about the relationship between costs and service, the report stated.

Further recommendations included taking steps to ensure that state partners’ bills are accurate and that the cost-calculation and bill-development processes are more transparent.