Department of Transportation

Turboliner Modernization Project: Monitoring and Inspection

In the Turboliner Modernization Project, seven existing Amtrak trainsets, consisting of five cars each, were to be remanufactured so that they could travel at higher speeds. The trainsets were to be remanufactured by a contractor that was overseen by the Department of Transportation. The remanufacturing activities of the contractor were to be inspected by the Department at regular intervals. We examined the effectiveness of the inspection process and found that certain improvements were needed, as change order work was not always completely verified before payments were made to the contractor and required inspections were not always performed. We also found that the Department’s engineering consultant had identified a number of critical problems in the remanufacturing process and recommended that the Department take certain actions to address the problems. However, the Department did not take these actions. At the end of our audit field work in October 2002, the remanufacturing process was nearly four years behind schedule.

For a complete copy of Report 2002-S-54 click here.
For a copy of the 90-day response click here.