5-22-2019

DUPONT, Wash. — Federal investigators say the deadly 2017 Amtrak train derailment in DuPont was caused by “inadequate training of a locomotive engineer” and “failure to provide effective mitigation for a hazardous curve.”

Although the engineer didn’t slow down from an estimated 78 mph for a 30-mph curve, the NTSB also blamed Sound Transit, Amtrak, WSDOT and the Federal Railroad Administration for a slew of errors that led to the crash.

After the National Transportation Safety Board announced the findings at a meeting on Tuesday, Amtrak said it was “deeply saddened by the loss of life” and that it has already implemented a number of changes.

The train derailed Dec. 18, 2017, near DuPont, killing three and injuring dozens on its first passenger trip on a new route from Tacoma and Portland.

State Senator Steve O’Ban (R-Pierce County) condemned those involved for prioritizing funds rather than safety, and released a statement which can be read in full below.

“I’m appalled at the incompetence and complete lack of accountability that created the chain of failure that day. The NTSB stated unequivocally that if Sound Transit had done its proper due diligence, the accident would not have happened. Its risk assessment report was woefully incomplete – its oversight virtually non-existent. As the host railroad, it’s up to them to ensure safety.

 

“The chairman of the NTSB said today that the engineer was set up to fail – and fail he did by going 78 mph in an area marked for 30 mph and by not paying attention to the warning signs or slowing down. In his statement, the engineer said that they all knew that corner and hated it. Amtrak failed him by, among other things, not providing adequate training. He only ran the southbound route of that new territory ONCE and it was in the dark. He didn’t even know enough to recognize the warning alarm system going off in the train. But he knew about the hazard and sped right toward it.

 

“It’s also clear that, among the failures leading up to that day was the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) granting only four days before the accident of an exemption to Amtrak for the requirement to have Positive Train Control (PTC) installed. If safety is the FRA’s paramount concern, why was Amtrak granted this exemption?

 

“The victims of this accident were let down by a careless system of bureaucracy that dropped the ball again and again. Was lack of funding a cause? Not according to the NTSB.”