Amtrak botched planning on $6 billion tunnel project, watchdog says

WASHINGTON — Amtrak’s struggle to manage early planning led to delays for a key passenger rail tunnel project that received $4.7 billion in federal funding from the infrastructure law, a government watchdog found.

The Frederick Douglass Tunnel program aims to revitalize the 150-year-old, 1.4-mile Baltimore and Potomac Tunnel that runs beneath west Baltimore that serves Amtrak, Maryland commuters and freight trains. The route’s tight curves and steep incline force trains to slow to 30 miles per hour, making it the largest bottleneck between Washington and New Jersey.

The project, estimated to cost $6 billion, is the “single largest infrastructure project that Amtrak is leading,” according to a report from the Amtrak Office of Inspector General released Tuesday.

Amtrak in 2022 mismanaged staffing levels and initial planning of the project, it said. As a result the requisite planning has yet to be completed despite the program approaching major construction, which the report said “significantly” increases the risk of cost overruns and delays.

For example, Amtrak initially assigned responsibility for the program to one person who had “limited support” to provide the management and oversight for such a large, complex program. Between August 2022 and October 2023, the team grew from one to seven.

“Despite the addition of new staff, the volume of work continued to overtask the team: five of the six new staff-level members told us they were overwhelmed by the workload,” the report said.

As a result, the program lacked the necessary planning to keep the project on track. It also suffered from “insufficient communications management” with external stakeholders, “inadequate document management” impacting major contracts, and inconsistent risk management and mitigation measures.

The inspector general had previously identified similar management issues on another project that caused a portion of the budget to more than double. It also pointed to a 2020 report in which a project with similar initial planning issues experienced delays.

“Given the sheer size of the $6 billion FDT program, similar risks — if realized — could generate significant cost and schedule impacts,” it said.

However, the report noted that Amtrak has been “rapidly” integrating teams to handle a project of this size as construction is scheduled to start this year.

Cost overruns could spell trouble for Democrat and Republican lawmakers hailing from Northeastern areas who defend federal funding against arguments that it’s wasteful spending.

Those quick to pounce on missteps include Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who has sent multiple letters to the Biden administration accusing it of favoring the Northeast Corridor as it doles out cash from the infrastructure law.

Opponents have been particularly critical of cash for the Gateway Project — another passenger rail project funded in part by the 2021 infrastructure law that the OIG reported has management issues.

President Joe Biden in 2023 visited the aging Baltimore tunnel to highlight $16 billion in federal funding for Amtrak routes on the Northeast Corridor. The Frederick Douglass Tunnel project is expected to be completed by 2035.