In summary, losses on Amtrak’s food and beverage service have been a long‐standing issue. From fiscal year (FY) 2006 through FY 2012, the food and beverage service incurred direct operating losses of more than $609 million. The overwhelming majority of the losses were incurred on its long‐distance routes.
The Office of Inspector General is initiating an evaluation of Amtrak’s Safe-2-Safer program. Specifically, we will review how the program has been implemented, identify the resources devoted to the program, and determine the extent to which the goals of the program have been achieved. To accomplish this objective, we will review program and contract documents, observe practices, and interview Amtrak employees and BST officials involved in the program. We will perform our work at various locations throughout the country.
The Office of Inspector General is initiating an evaluation of the company’s business case for procuring next-generation high-speed rail trainsets. Specifically, we will determine the extent to which Amtrak is incorporating the sound business practices that we previously reported on in OIG reports E-2013-014 and E-2013-020 in developing its business case for high-speed rail equipment. To accomplish this objective, we will interview various Amtrak officials and review supporting documents used to develop the business case.
Our reporting objective is to assess actions taken by Amtrak to reduce operating losses from the food and beverage service, and also to determine whether opportunities exist to improve financial performance while providing services to the travelling public.
Our objective was to test employee compliance with existing PCard controls and to identify control weaknesses.