I can see you and I think alike, Fenderman. I'll tell you a quick story that will help explain the graft in any government bidding process.
My (small) company manufactures small gas recovery systems, to collect a dielectric gas used in electric transmission equipment (think electric utility companies). A branch of the military also uses it in their aircraft.
We were contacted by them to supply them with two prototype units to recover the gas from their aircraft. But, because we were not an authorized vendor for the Government Services Administration (GSA), we either had to go through a cost-prohibitive evaluation and certification process, or we could use a "prime contractor"
Prime contractors are those who already do a lot of work for the DOD - think Northrup Grumman, Lockheed, Boeing, etc. Clearly, that was our only option.
Long story longer, our final price for the prototype units to the prime contractor was about $40,000 - for both units. After they were delivered to the DOD, I met with the buyer during vendor meeting dinner. He was a little inebriated, and let down his guard - and in the process, told me what the final invoice was from the contractor to the DOD. Just shy of $500,000.
If I didn't directly profit from the $40k sale, I might just be offended. However, as a tax paying citizen, I'm beside myself to know that this is how our government agencies work. Amtrak is no different, I'm sure.