Feds tell Amtrak to expand speed control at crash site
Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA
Federal officials announced Saturday that Amtrak must immediately expand its use of a speed restriction system on Philadelphia’s northbound rails where a speeding train reached 106 mph, flew off the tracks and crashed, killing eight people.
The Federal Railroad Administration said an emergency order would be issued in coming days that calls for Amtrak to ensure the presence of the automatic train control system that notifies an engineer when a train is above the speed limit and automatically applies the brakes if the engineer doesn’t act to slow the train down.
The system already is being used for southbound trains approaching the curve where Tuesday’s derailment occurred.
Amtrak said it would abide by the federal directive and others announced Saturday, adding that Amtrak’s “overarching goal is to provide safe and secure rail passenger travel.”
The train was traveling from Washington, D.C., to New York when it flew off the tracks at Philadelphia. About 200 people were injured, and at least eight people remained in critical condition in Philadelphia hospitals Saturday. All were expected to survive.
Investigators have been looking into why the train hit the speed of about 106 mph in a 50 mph zone. The FBI also is looking into the possibility that the windshield of the train was hit by an object shortly before the train derailed. The engineer, who was injured in the crash, told authorities he did not recall anything in the few minutes before it happened.
The Federal Railroad Administration also ordered Amtrak to analyze curves to assess risks on the Northeast Corridor, the busy stretch of tracks between Washington and Boston, and determine if more can be done to improve safety.
“In areas where approach speed is significantly higher than curve speed, the appropriate technology intended to prevent over-speed derailments must be implemented immediately,” the agency said.
After the crash, Amtrak president Joseph Boardman vowed to have the next-generation positive train control system in operation along the railroad by the end of the year, as Congress mandated in 2008. The system uses transponders, wireless radio and computers to prevent trains from going over the speed limit.
A funeral service took place Friday on Long Island for Justin Zemser, a 20-year-old midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy. A service also is scheduled Monday in Holmdel, N.J., for Robert Gildersleeve Jr., 45, of Elkridge, Md. Gildersleeve was vice president of a food-safety company called Ecolab.