Problems in the Northeast Corridor Railway Improvement Project

The Northeast Corridor Improvement Project (NECIP) to improve rail passenger service between Boston, New York, and Washington, D.C. will not be completed within the established time and funding limits. A review was made of the project's management and planning which contributed to these problems. Previous audits have raised serious questions about the accuracy, reliability, and validity of many Amtrak NECIP activities.

Amtrak's performance on NECIP construction work has not been good. Work has consistently run behind production schedules while exceeding cost estimates. The scope of work for NECIP has been reduced from that originally intended in the draft implementation master plan. These reductions will result in increased future maintenance costs for Amtrak, reduced passenger comfort, reduced on-time reliability, and reduced safety. Shortcomings in NECIP management have resulted in numerous problems. The three party management structure is not working effectively and has contributed to the problems. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is the overall program manager and has the final authority and responsibility for the entire program. However, FRA has not been effective, and major overall decisions and determinations have not been made.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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