NYC’s Gateway Rail Project risks further delays, Watchdog warns

Amtrak needs to shore up its workload management to avoid further delays in the long-postponed Gateway project aimed at alleviating rail congestion between New York and New Jersey, the company’s watchdog reported.

Challenges are already piling up in handling personnel needs, communications, and assessing broader risks for the Northeast Corridor’s commuter rail tunnel project for lack of a detailed management plan, Amtrak’s Office of Inspector General said in findings made public Tuesday.

These problems could further slow the project even as it gets a priority boost from the federal government and a surge in spending through the recently enacted infrastructure law (Public Law 117-58).

The OIG’s office said Amtrak “experienced cost increases, schedule delays, and stress on its partner relationships” when it didn’t have a management framework in place for prior complex projects.

Gateway is critical for Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, which stretches from Washington to Boston and is known to be the most congested rail route in the U.S. The program includes building a new commuter-rail tunnel under the Hudson River and replacing the existing one.

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The report recommends that Amtrak develop a more comprehensive approach for its work on the project, assess its hiring needs, and put in place protocols for communications. It also advises establishing a risk management plan. Amtrak accepted the recommendations and said it plans to complete them this year.

The infrastructure law made an “unprecedented level of new funding available to Amtrak and other stakeholders” and “raised expectations and enthusiasm for the Gateway Program,” Amtrak said in its response in the report, adding that it will develop a hiring plan to fill needed positions and meet those expectations.

Separately, a recent OIG report found that the railroad’s human resources department doesn’t have adequate staff or managers to recruit and onboard new workers.

The Gateway project earned a priority boost last month to make it eligible for federal money when the Federal Transit Administration raised the project’s rating to “medium-high” from “medium-low.”

The Federal Railroad Administration and the FTA also jointly approved the federal environmental review for the Hudson Tunnel last year, and the report said that the company and its partners are applying for federal funds.