Commuter Rail: Commuter Rail Issues Should Be Considered in Debate over Amtrak

Amtrak provides a wide range of services and access to its infrastructure for commuter railroads on the Northeast Corridor and across the country. These services include, among other things: operating commuter trains, providing electric power to commuter railroads, and providing station access in Amtrak-owned stations in cities such as New York City, Chicago and Seattle. Given these interactions, there was concern that if Amtrak abruptly ceased to provide services and infrastructure, commuter rail operations could be adversely affected. Amtrak's chronic financial problems and recent budget proposals make such a cessation a possibility. In 2006, GAO reported that commuter rail agencies typically pay Amtrak for access to infrastructure and services and that Amtrak's financial relationships with commuter railroads lacked clarity, making it difficult to determine if commuter railroads were paying their fair share for improvements and maintenance of Amtrak's infrastructure. Several issues contributed to the lack of clarity, including limitations in Amtrak's accounting practices, the lack of transparency in Amtrak's financial reports, and the structure of the financial arrangements between Amtrak and commuter rail agencies. This lack of clarity and transparency about the revenues and costs incurred as a result of Amtrak's commuter rail activities makes it difficult for Amtrak's management and external stakeholders (such as Congress and the Department of Transportation) to make fully informed decisions about Amtrak's commuter line-of-business. Therefore, GAO recommended that Amtrak should improve its accounting practices and financial reports to clearly show all revenues and expenses in providing services and access to commuter rail agencies to provide more information to Amtrak management, commuter rail agencies and Congress. Amtrak initiated a new accounting system in response to a requirement in the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008, called the Amtrak Performance Tracking (APT) system. This system has gradually improved the direct allocation of its costs to different lines of business, such as commuter rail operations and infrastructure costs, increasing the accuracy of Amtrak's accounting practices. According to Amtrak officials, Amtrak's grant agreement with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) also requires Amtrak to submit a quarterly report on payments received and expended between Amtrak's intercity and commuter rail operations both on and off Amtrak's Northeast Corridor (NEC) to the FRA. In 2017, GAO confirmed that Amtrak had created a quarterly public report to FRA-which is also available to commuter rail agencies and Congress-showing Amtrak's revenues and expenses for its commuter rail operations and infrastructure access separate from Amtrak's intercity revenues and expenses. Additionally, commuter railroads have worked with Amtrak to allocate capital improvement and maintenance costs for commuter railroad use of the NEC under the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act (PRIIA) of 2008 and the results are reported to Amtrak, FRA and the commuter railroads. By providing more clarity to Amtrak's revenues and expenses as well as allocating commuter railroad's capital improvement and maintenance costs for use of the NEC, Amtrak has provided more transparency to Amtrak's relationship with commuter railroads, allowing for more informed operations and capital investment decisions regarding Amtrak's commuter rail line of business and the NEC.