The purpose of this hearing was not to force Amtrak into profitable food and beverage operation. It was to determine the steps Amtrak has taken to implement recommendations made last year by the Amtrak office of the Inspector General (AOIG) to reduce waste and fraud in the food and beverage operation, and also to assess the impact of Amtrak food and beverage costs on state-supported services.
A
report issued last year by the AOIG identified widespread theft and fraud in Amtrak food and beverage service involving 307 LSA's over eight years. A conservative estimate of the cost of the theft and fraud to Amtrak is between $4 and $7 million per year. The AOIG made a series of recommendations to Amtrak to reduce the problem. The hearing was to assess the steps taken by Amtrak in response to the AOIG's report.
A second issue covered was the cost of food and beverage service being passed to states for state-supported trains. Of particular interest was the experience of the state of Maine and the Downeaster. Maine does not use Amtrak food and beverage service for the Downeaster. They independently contract the on-board food and beverage operation. There was considerable interest in the economic comparison between Maine's use of a private food and beverage contractor verses the cost to other states for use of Amtrak-supplied food and beverage service.
As long as Amtrak depends on federal funding in order to operate their trains, Congress, which provides those funds, has every right to question how the money is being spent. When an independent investigator like the AOIG finds waste and fraud, Congress has an obligation to follow-up and review Amtrak's response. By all accounts, Amtrak did just fine at this hearing, and the AOIG expressed general satisfaction with Amtrak's response to last year's report.