#amtrak188

[katmath]

A witness says he saw train cars everywhere, after an Amtrak train derailed in Philadelphia. 

[katmath]

First responders gathered at Philadelphia City Hall to share their stories of responding to the derailment of Amtrak train #188.

[yahoonewsdigest-intl]

Debunked: Amtrak crash investigators rule out bullet theory

US News

Debunked: Amtrak crash investigators rule out bullet theory

Investigators say they are certain a bullet did not hit the windshield of Train 188 last week — and they're not entirely sure that anything at all hit the train before it derailed. FBI agents performed forensic work on a grapefruit-sized fracture on the left side of the Amtrak locomotive's windshield, and the National Transportation Safety Board said it found no evidence of any damage that could have been caused by a gun.

You know when a pebble hits a windshield and it goes through a layer and the window fractures and it kind of looks like a spider web? That’s sort of what [the broken windshield] looks like.

Law enforcement official briefed on the investigation

Investigators have also reviewed audiotapes and found that engineer Brendan Bostian never told a dispatch center that an object had struck his train. The bullet theory came from a report that an assistant conductor said she heard the regional train engineer say he'd been "hit by a rock or shot at" and she thought she heard the Amtrak engineer say his train had also been struck.

[yahoonewsdigest-us]

Amtrak will expand speed control system after regulators demand action

World

Amtrak will expand speed control system after regulators demand action

Amtrak says it will immediately abide by an order by federal regulators to expand use of a speed restriction system in the area of Tuesday's deadly train derailment that killed eight people and injured more than 200 others. The Federal Railroad Administration said Saturday it wants Amtrak to put in effect the automatic train control system for northbound trains approaching the curve where the train derailed. The system is already in effect for southbound trains and notifies the engineer when a train is above the speed limit and automatically applies the brakes if the engineer doesn't slow the train down. Amtrak has said it plans to install a next-generation speed control system by year's end.

We're depending heavily on the human engineer to correctly obey and interpret the signals that he sees and also speed limits and other operating requirements.

David B. Clarke, a railroad expert at the University of Tennessee

Despite the train industry's widespread use of electronic signals, sensors and warning systems, the Amtrak wreck has made it clear that safety still sometimes comes down to the knowledge and experience of the engineer at the controls. Those skills would have been critical on the curve where the New York-bound train derailed. Instead of high-tech signals or automatic controls, engineers on that stretch of track have to rely on their familiarity with the route and a printed timetable they carry with them, not unlike engineers a century ago.

[yahoonewsdigest-intl]

New mystery in U.S. Amtrak train crash: Was it hit by a flying object?

Americas

New mystery in U.S. Amtrak train crash: Was it hit by a flying object?

The Amtrak train that derailed along the nation's busiest tracks may have been struck by an object in the moments before it crashed, investigators said Friday, raising new questions about the deadly accident. National Transportation Safety Board member Robert Sumwalt said an assistant conductor aboard the train told investigators that she heard the Amtrak engineer talking over the radio with an engineer for a regional railroad just before the crash. The regional engineer, who was in the same area as the Amtrak train, said his train had been hit by a rock or some other projectile. The conductor heard Brandon Bostian, who was at the Amtrak controls, say the same had happened to his train, according to Sumwalt.

When you heard the name Brandon Bostian, the first thing you would think is trains. His walls were covered with pictures; he had several model sets. Sometimes we'd just go down to the tracks that ran through town and watch trains and shoot the breeze.

Lee Allen, one of Bostian's close friends from adolescence, told the New York Times

The windshield of the Amtrak train was shattered in the accident but one area of glass had a breakage pattern that could be consistent with being hit by an object and the FBI is investigating, he said. The derailment has made it clear that despite the train industry's widespread use of electronic signals, sensors and warning systems, safety still sometimes comes down to the knowledge and experience of the engineer. Those skills would have been critical on the curve where the New York-bound train derailed, killing eight and injuring more than 200 in the deadliest U.S. train accident in nearly six years.

I don't think there's any foul play or anything like that. He was never one to do drugs. There's got to be something else going on that nobody knows about yet.

James Weir, a friend of Bostian

[yahoonewsdigest-us]

Engineer's inability to remember crash among new Amtrak disaster details

US News

Engineer's inability to remember crash among new Amtrak disaster details

The National Transportation Safety Board says the engineer of the Amtrak train that derailed in Philadelphia has told investigators he has no recollection of the trip from the time the train went through a commuter rail station about 3 miles from the curve where it crashed. The NTSB says engineer Brandon Bostian told investigators he last remembered ringing the train's bell while passing by the North Philadelphia station Tuesday night. NTSB member Robert Sumwalt says, "He has no recollection of anything past that." The NTSB says an assistant conductor in the cafe car of the Amtrak train said she heard the engineer talking to a regional rail train engineer who said he'd been "hit by a rock or shot at." She says she thought she heard the Amtrak engineer say his train had also been struck.

In order to increase the speed as much as it was increased in this case, you would have had to really, really move the throttle. Frankly, I am puzzled about the whole thing.

Charles Culver, a certified conductor and engineer

Bostian, 32, who grew up in Memphis, always wanted to be a railroad engineer and live in New York City, according to his friends. With a career at Amtrak and an apartment in Queens, N.Y., the locomotive-obsessed man was living his dream until the train he was helming tragically jumped the track at 106 mph — killing eight people and injuring scores of others. To become a railroad engineer, one needs a high school diploma or equivalent, a license from the Federal Railroad Administration and the completion of a company-sponsored training program. A railroad safety consultant told Yahoo News that Bostian would have had to go through rigorous training.

When you heard the name Brandon Bostian, the first thing you would think is trains. His walls were covered with pictures; he had several model sets. Sometimes we'd just go down to the tracks that ran through town and watch trains and shoot the breeze.

Lee Allen, one of Bostian's close friends from adolescence, told the New York Times

[thehilldotcom]

Speaker John Boehner's thoughts on whether Amtrak funding cuts caused the crash in Philadelphia.

[yahoonewsdigest-us]

Looming crisis: Amtrak has an infrastructure problem 100 miles north of Philly

Politics

Looming crisis: Amtrak has an infrastructure problem 100 miles north of Philly

Roughly 100 miles north of the site where Amtrak Train 188 derailed — killing eight people and suspending service on its flagship Northeast Corrider line — the national rail carrier is facing a potentially worse problem: the North River Tunnels, which are a key chokepoint for the entire Northeast corridor. Amtrak CEO Joseph Boardman described the century-old tubes as "one of the most critical pieces of infrastructure in the New York Metro area — if not the nation." He also said that 20 years is the maximum amount of time the pair of two-way tunnels can continue running without one of them being shut down for major repair. There's a plan for a new tunnel, which used to be called Access to the Region's Core, but that tunnel was under construction when New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie canceled the project in 2010, instead diverting that money to road repairs in the state.

The governor has put politics before performance, and it is the people of New Jersey who will pay the high price.

Former N.J. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, in 2010

The decision has been an unpopular one for his constituents, who have continued to remind the governor how angry they are, even conducting a lengthy spat with him on Twitter. He said that he canceled the project because New Jersey would be on the hook for cost overruns. In the meantime, the North River Tunnels — heavily damaged by Superstorm Sandy — face an uncertain future.

We need to figure out if we’re just going to wring our hands and watch the patient expire — going to that six trains an hour scenario — or whether we’re all going to take the more difficult political steps necessary to actually address the challenge, rectify the problem.

Peter Rogoff, U.S. Department of Transportation’s undersecretary for policy