United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office Resources, Community, and Economic Development Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2000-05-31 monographic deposited born digital 64 p. GA 1.13:RCED-00-138 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-138 P0b002ee18037828c f:rc00138 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-23 GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-138 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-138 RCED-00-138 Railroad transportation operations Railroad industry Cost control Future budget projections Federal aid to railroads Financial management Strategic planning Amtrak Northeast Corridor High-Speed Rail Program Letter Report RCED Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the National Railroad Passenger Corporation's (Amtrak) costs and capital investment needs, focusing on: (1) changes since 1995 in Amtrak's operating costs, including labor costs, payments to freight railroads to access their track and keep Amtrak trains on time, interest on commercial debt, the projected changes over the next five years, and Amtrak's plans to address these costs; (2) Amtrak's short- and long-term capital investment requirements, including investments to address "state of good repair" issues and investments in its progressive overhaul program and Northeast Corridor high-speed rail program; and (3) the availability of federal and nonfederal funds for Amtrak's capital investments.<p/>GAO noted that: (1) Amtrak's operating costs have increased since 1995, and future increases can be expected; (2) costs in three areas--labor, interest on commercial debt, and payments to other railroads to access track and keep Amtrak's trains on time--have all contributed to these increases; (3) Amtrak has attempted to control costs; (4) however, while its performance has improved in recent years, from 1995 to 1999, Amtrak's operating costs were, in total, about $150 million (in nominal dollars) more than planned; (5) Amtrak has no measures of labor productivity for its lines of business, such as intercity passenger service and commuter service, that could help it better manage its labor costs; (6) because future cost increases can be expected, it will be critical for Amtrak to achieve the revenue projections for such things as its high-speed rail program on the Northeast Corridor; (7) GAO estimates Amtrak has short- and long-term capital investment needs totalling about $9.1 billion through 2015; (8) these needs include safety improvements on tunnels and bridges on the Northeast Corridor and restoration of the Northeast Corridor to a condition that requires only routine maintenance, among other things; (9) Amtrak will also have other capital investment needs for which it has not yet developed cost estimates; (10) finding the financial resources to meet these needs will be difficult since Amtrak's identified capital investment needs are expected to exceed available federal capital funds by nearly $2 billion over the next 5 years; (11) Amtrak expects to share the cost for some infrastructure investments with other railroads and will have to look increasingly to nonfederal sources, such as states, to obtain capital funds; (12) compounding the potential funding shortfall is the lack of a multiyear capital plan, which Amtrak has not prepared since 1997; and (13) development of such a plan will be critical in Amtrak's attempt to address its capital investment needs. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-138/html/GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-138.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-138/pdf/GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-138.pdf GAO/RCED-00-138 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-00-138 Letter Report GAO/RCED-00-138; Intercity Passenger Rail: Amtrak Will Continue to Have; Railroad transportation operations Railroad industry Cost control Future budget projections Federal aid to railroads Financial management Strategic planning Amtrak Northeast Corridor High-Speed Rail Program