United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2005-08-24 monographic deposited born digital 30 p. GA 1.13:GAO-05-867 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-05-867 P0b002ee180394406 f:d05867 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-GAO-05-867 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-05-867 GAO-05-867 Accountability Contract administration Contractors Cost analysis Cost control Financial analysis Food services Food services contracts Internal controls Monitoring Performance measures Railroad industry Erroneous payments Data collection Cost effectiveness analysis Data integrity Other Written Product A34277

Food and beverages have been served on board National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) trains since Amtrak was created. Amtrak's 11 commissaries, located around the country, are responsible for receiving, warehousing and stocking food, beverages, and other items for Amtrak's on-board dining and cafe service. January 1999, Amtrak ran these commissaries with its own employees. Since then, Amtrak has contracted out the responsibility for the commissaries and for ordering and stocking all food, beverage, and related items under a contract that expires in September 2006. Gate Gourmet, the contractor, is also a supplier of food and beverages to several major airlines. During fiscal years 2002 through 2004, the period we focused on in our audit work, Amtrak paid Gate Gourmet between $59 million and $64 million a year in reimbursements and fees. Gate Gourmet personnel operate Amtrak-owned commissaries and order, receive, store, and stock trains with food, beverages, and other related items, such as table linens and napkins. Food and beverage supplies are charged to Amtrak employees who provide on-board food and beverage service and account for the food and beverages en route. When a train arrives at its final destination, all remaining stock items are returned to a commissary. Gate Gourmet charges Amtrak for the items used, as well as for labor, management, and other fees.Since Amtrak started operations in 1971, Amtrak has struggled financially and has depended on a federal subsidy of more than $1 billion a year since fiscal year 2003 to remain solvent. For fiscal years 2002 through 2004, Amtrak's food and beverage expenses were about $487 million--or only about 5 percent of the company's total expenditures. However, during that same time period, Amtrak's food and beverage service earned about $243 million in revenue. This means that Amtrak spends about $2 to earn $1 in food and beverage revenue. Because of the importance of food and beverage operations to Amtrak and the continued interest of Congress in Amtrak's financial performance, Congress asked us to review Amtrak's food and beverage costs. We examined the following three areas: (1) the provisions written into Amtrak's contract with Gate Gourmet International (Gate Gourmet) to control costs, (2) the types of management controls Amtrak exercises to prevent improper payments, and (3) the information Amtrak collects and uses to monitor the service and to report to stakeholders such as its Board of Directors. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-05-867/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-05-867.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-05-867/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-05-867.pdf GAO-05-867 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-05-867 Other Written Product GAO-05-867; Amtrak: Improved Management and Controls over Food and Beverage Service Needed; Accountability Contract administration Contractors Cost analysis Cost control Financial analysis Food services Food services contracts Internal controls Monitoring Performance measures Railroad industry Erroneous payments Data collection Cost effectiveness analysis Data integrity Title 49 Section 24305(c)(4) 49 U.S.C. 24305(c)(4)