Amtrak needs a ‘comprehensive’ plan to manage Gateway Program, inspector general report finds

(The Center Square) – Amtrak needs a “comprehensive” plan to properly manage the multibillion-dollar Gateway Program.

The finding was included in a new report from the Amtrak Office of Inspector General (OIG).

The Gateway Program is an extensive project aimed at improving a section of the busy Northeast Corridor between Newark Penn Station and New York Penn Station. It includes a new Portal North Bridge over the Hackensack River and a new tunnel beneath the Hudson River between New Jersey and New York City.

“Our assessments of prior complex construction and acquisition programs found that when the company did not put this framework in place early enough, it experienced cost increases, schedule delays, and stress on its partner relationships as projects matured,” the OIG report said.

“Gateway involves multiple transportation organizations – which may have competing priorities – that depend on multiple funding sources for numerous projects and have evolving delivery timelines,” the report said. “These practical and political complexities increase the risk to the company’s budget and time frames to meet its commitments to the program.”

An Amtrak spokesman told The Center Square the railroad is stepping up process improvements, and some efforts were underway even before the report.

“We appreciate the work of the Office of Inspector General and are accelerating process improvements and will continue to incorporate best practices into the Gateway Program – efforts that had been underway prior to the OIG’s audit,” Jason Abrams, an Amtrak public relations manager, said in an e-mailed statement to The Center Square.

“With the support of the Biden Administration, Congress and our state partners, Amtrak is poised to enter a new era of capital investment,” the statement added. “As the Gateway Program accelerates out of the planning phase and into construction and delivery, Amtrak is also evolving and dedicating the resources necessary to meet our commitments to the Program, our partners and the nation.”