MAJOR PROGRAMS: Amtrak Is Establishing a Structure for Managing the Frederick Douglass Tunnel Program, but Better Planning Would Improve Oversight and Reduce Risks

Our objective was to assess the company’s management and oversight of the Frederick Douglass Tunnel program.We found that the company is developing its management structure for the FDT program but initially did not have an effective structure or sufficient staff in place. In December 2022, the company decided to hire a contractor—a “delivery partner”—to provide management and oversight, but until it onboarded the contractor more than a year later, it relied on an overwhelmed internal team to manage multiple, complex, and concurrent commitments. As a result, the requisite planning has yet to be completed despite the program approaching major construction, which significantly increases the risk of cost overruns and delays.We recommend that Amtrak’s Capital Delivery department advance the requisite planning before major construction begins. We also recommend that the company improve its program planning processes to ensure that it implements a management structure and provides sufficient staff early enough to avoid similar challenges on future programs.