KGMI News
DUPONT, Wash. (AP) – Federal investigators probing a deadly Amtrak derailment are trying to determine why the train was traveling at more than double the posted speed limit as it entered the curve where it left the tracks and plunged off an overpass and partly onto a freeway, killing three people and injuring dozens.
National Transportation Safety Board member Bella Dinh-Zarr said Tuesday that early details from the probe indicate a conductor-in-training was in the cab with the engineer at the time of the derailment and the brake that eventually stopped the train was automatically activated instead of being applied by the engineer.
Technology that can automatically slow a speeding train was not in use on that stretch of track. Track sensors and other components were installed, but the system isn’t expected to be completed until spring.
Amtrak and the Washington Department of Transportation did not immediately respond to messages about why they launched the service while the technology was still months away.
Railroads are under government orders to install positive train control by the end of 2018.
Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.