Amtrak train that crashed, was travelling "over 100 mph" into 50mph curve?

[Uncensored2008]

Investigators have said that the Amtrak train that crashed in Philadelphia last night, was travelling over 100 mph, on a curve whose speed limit was 50 mph.

One passenger who survived, was quoted as saying the train slowed suddenly as though someone had slammed on the brakes, just before the crash.

How long until we start hearing that the engineer was texting his girlfriend, or asleep at the controls, as the train approached the curve?

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Amtrak Crash Train Appears to Have Hit Curve Going Over 100 MPH - WSJ

Amtrak Crash: Train Appears to Have Hit Curve Going Over 100 MPH
Speed limit where accident occurred drops to 50 MPH, rail administration says

Updated May 13, 2015 2:40 p.m. ET

PHILADELPHIA—An Amtrak train involved in a fatal crash here appears to have been traveling at more than 100 miles an hour as it entered a sharp curve where it derailed Tuesday night, killing at least seven people, according to two people with knowledge of the investigation.

The speed limit in that section of track drops to 50 miles an hour, according to the Federal Railroad Administration.

Investigators are focusing on the possibility that excessive speed was a factor in the derailment, one of these people said. The locomotive and all seven passenger cars of the train went off the tracks at a tight curve at Frankford Junction, north of Philadelphia city center. Multiple cars overturned, severely injuring some passengers and pinning others. At least seven people were killed, and more than 200 were injured, including eight who were in critical condition.

Amtrak officials notified some employees on a Wednesday conference call that excessive speed was believed to have contributed to the crash, said one of these people, who was briefed on the contents of the call.

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http://6abc.com/news/5-dead-65-hospitalized-in-amtrak-train-derailment/718111/

An Associated Press manager, Paul Cheung, was on the train and said he was watching Netflix when "the train started to decelerate, like someone had slammed the brake. Then suddenly you could see everything starting to shake," he said. "You could see people's stuff flying over me."

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Amtrak trains are computerized. The engineer would have had to override the controls to push the speed up.

Relying to much on automation and there was a failure maybe?

Could be.

 

[ABikerSailor]

No..............the trains aren't automated yet, they are still under the control of the engineers, who are the people that control the speed of the train.

HereWeGoAgain, yes..............you may have a sensor in your garage that lifts and lowers your door, but how many times has that sensor had to endure several minutes of being pounded on by several tons of material? And............would that sensor be capable of stopping a train? Not if it's shoddily made, and, considering what it would be used for, it would have to be extremely durable, and therefore, not cheap to build.

And.................if you're wondering what kind of locomotives Amtrak has, here's a link.........

List of Amtrak rolling stock - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia

 

[SassyIrishLass]

Interesting

AP:
Philadelphia police officials say the engineer of the Amtrak train that crashed, killing seven people and injuring more than 200, declined to provide a statement to investigators.

They say the engineer also had an attorney when he left a meeting with investigators. The engineer has not yet been identified.

 

[Pogo]

There goes the "I told you we needed infrastructure!!!!!"

Actually there goes the "engineer was Muslim" canard.

 

[Rozman]

How quickly the folks on MSNBC Morning Joe show this morning were blaming the crash on our crumbling infrastructure as the cause....

 

[Uncensored2008]

How quickly the folks on MSNBC Morning Joe show this morning were blaming the crash on our crumbling infrastructure as the cause....

If Amtrak is "crumbling" I want to see some people in prison for embezzlement - considering the billions of taxpayer dollars that have been poured into it.

 

[ABikerSailor]

Actually, what the problem is, is that there are no warning systems or systems in place to slow down trains on the WHOLE track. They have it over about a third of the NE corridor, but 2/3rds of the route (of which one was where the train crashed) don't have those safety systems in place.

Part of the problem IS infrastructure, but the other half of the problem was human error.

Basically, what one expert said on the news today is that our rail system hasn't been updated since the 19th century, even though we've gotten much faster trains since then, and yes, we do need to update the tracks and put these safety systems in place.

 

[Zoom-boing]

"The engineer of the train has been identified as 32-year-old Brandon Bostian.

The speed limit on the track leading up to the curve where it crashed is 80 mph, but the train is supposed to slow to 50 mph as it enters the curve.

In a news conference on Wednesday evening, an NTSB spokesman said the train hit a top speed of 106 mph.

The emergency brakes were applied, and the train was going 102 mph when it crashed, preliminary results show.

The NTSB said Amtrak has a system called "Advanced Civil Speed Enforcement, which would have slowed the train.

Meanwhile, Bostian was treated at the hospital after the crash, then spent hours in a Philadelphia police station on Wednesday.

He declined to give a statement, according to Commissioner Charles Ramsey, refusing even after his union lawyer arrived."

http://6abc.com/news/ntsb-amtrak-train-going-106-mph-before-crash-results-show/719624/


"CBS News has identified the engineer as 32-year-old Brandon Bostian of Queens, New York.

Robert Goggin, Bostian’s attorney, told ABC News his client has “no recollection” of the crash.

“He remembers driving the train. He remembers going to that area generally, [but] has absolutely no recollection of the incident or anything unusual. The next thing he recalls is being thrown around, coming to, finding his bag, getting his cellphone and dialing 911,” Goggin told ABC News.

Goggin says Bostian voluntarily turned over a blood sample and his cellphone.

“I asked him if he had any medical issues,” he told ABC News. “He said he had none. He’s on no medications … He has no health issues to speak of and just has no explanation.”

Goggin stated Bostian was later “distraught” after learning the details of what happened.

“The television was on in the police district, and the constant count and recounting of the incident was being broadcast in his face all morning, and he was distraught,” Goggin told ABC News.

Goggin added that Bostian suffered a concussion.

“He’s got 14 staples in his head, several stitches in his leg. He has one leg, the other leg immobilized with a knee problem. What he looked was exhausted,” he told ABC News."

Lawyer Amtrak Engineer Has No Recollection Of Crash CBS DC

 

[EverCurious]

Sounds very plausible to me, my husband hit a moose and lost around 20-25 minutes of memory centered on the impact.


That first story makes me wonder if the breaks failed... Or are they saying their safety device kicked in and hit the emergency breaks... Need more information.