Washington’s Union Station and the Ivy City Yard maintenance facility continue to have serious security gaps that make them vulnerable to trespassers and potential safety problems, according to a report from Amtrak’s inspector general released last week.

Some of these security vulnerabilities allowed a driver in a red vehicle to trespass on company property and drive onto the train tracks in March, the report states. The company implemented some new security measures after the incident, but several problems remain that “are placing passengers and employees at risk,” per the report. (The inspector general’s office analyzed only the parts of Union Station that Amtrak owns or subleases.) WTOP was first to report on the inspector general’s findings.

For starters, despite new security measures, an entrance to Union Station continues to be vulnerable to pedestrian trespassers. Screening at the entrances has been “inconsistent,” according to the report, because contracted security guards aren’t always posted at the entrances or don’t thoroughly screen people coming into the station, “and the company does not effectively monitor them,” the report says. Additionally, combination locks at the station haven’t been changed in years, and staff regularly prop open doors, meaning that restricted areas are open for anyone to walk through.

At Ivy City Yard, an Amtrak maintenance facility and coach yard, lighting is inadequate, gates are left open, and security guards do not consistently check identification at the entrances, the report says. Copper cables have previously been stolen from the yard, and people often trespass at night to sleep in areas of the yard, employees told inspectors. Some surveillance cameras at both Ivy City and Union Station are broken.

The company also has an inefficient reporting process for security issues, per the report, which hinders Amtrak’s ability to “obtain timely and accurate information to respond to reports of security incidents.”

Amtrak has made some progress in addressing security vulnerabilities, particularly after the March incident where a car drove onto the train tracks, per the report. The company has installed bollards and signage in front of the entrance to Union Station where the car trespassed, begun using card readers for entrance to several areas of the station, installed some perimeter fencing, hired security guards to man Ivy City Yard, and installed some surveillance cameras, per the report.

The report concludes that Amtrak has addressed some issues, but that it still has a ways to go.

“Most weaknesses we identified can be attributed to unclear roles and responsibilities for prioritizing, addressing, and funding security projects as accountability is diffused across multiple departments,” the report says. “Further, ineffective monitoring of the company’s contracted security guards exacerbates these weaknesses and is an example of the company’s ongoing challenge in providing strong contractor oversight.”

Amtrak says it accepts many of the inspector general’s concerns, and is working on plans to address them.

“We agree with the Amtrak Inspector General’s recommendations for improving security at Washington Union Station and Ivy City Yard. We have taken important steps for improvements such as creating a plan to document how we will address the vulnerabilities OIG identified at the station and yard by September 2019,” an Amtrak spokesperson told DCist via email. “In addition, projects have been underway to improve the security of the First Street entrance and is ongoing. The spokesperson also says that security practice improvements at interior station doors and the maintenance facility, along with a video surveillance and improved communication for faster incident reports, are underway.