CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET ESTIMATE Fiscal Year 2027

We respectfully submit the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) fiscal year (FY) 2027 budget proposal. Consistent with the President’s Budget Request, we are requesting $31,100,000 to support our mission of providing effective and meaningful oversight of Amtrak (the company), which, in addition to executing train operations across the nation and parts of Canada, is now managing an unprecedented multibillion-dollar portfolio of projects to upgrade its infrastructure. In addition, the company is making generational train procurements—including new NextGen Acela, Airo, and long distance trainsets—the success of which will weigh heavily on achieving its goal of operational profitability by 2028.

Our targeted work has touched on all these areas, including forecasting delays in the rollout of the NextGen Acela trains1 and identifying programmatic weaknesses and opportunities for improvements in the company’s management of several other major programs. We plan to closely monitor progress on NextGen Acela and other high-impact, high-value programs, such as Amtrak’s participation in a host of rail projects on its Northeast Corridor, including major projects that are part of the Gateway Program.

The funds requested will enable us to accomplish our key responsibilities of conducting audits, investigations, and legal analyses while also producing other reviews and reports consistent with our mission. In addition, the request includes $363,500 for staff training and $124,400 to support the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE), as provided by the Inspector General Reform Act of 2008, Pub. L. No. 110-409. We affirm that this funding is sufficient to satisfy these requirements and submit the following comments pursuant to Section 406(g) of the Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended.