amtrak derailment

Crew training deficiencies played a crucial role in the deadly 2017 Amtrak train derailment near DuPont, Washington, according to a final report from federal investigators accepted Tuesday by the National Transportation Safety Board.

NTSB board members also had sharp criticism for a quartet of entities involved in the Amtrak Cascades service: train operator Amtrak, track owner Sound Transit, rail service funder Washington State Department of Transportion and the regulatory agency Federal Rail Administration.

An Amtrak Cascades train arriving in Vancouver, B.C., from Seattle derailed at low speed Monday. Nobody was hurt, but the timing was unfortunate: The derailment occurred almost exactly one year after last December's deadly derailment south of Tacoma, which killed three people and injured dozens more. 

Last December's Amtrak derailment near DuPont, Washington, did more than cost three people their lives and injure dozens more. It's now becoming apparent that it set back regional train service expansion by years.

It's been almost one year since an Amtrak Cascades train derailed near DuPont, Washington. The crash killed three passengers and injured more than 60, including drivers on adjacent Interstate 5. 

Federal investigators have interviewed the engineer who was at the controls of Amtrak Cascades Train 501 that derailed last month south of Tacoma. The interview summary points more strongly to human error as the cause of the deadly wreck.

Amtrak's CEO has given Oregon and Washington state officials a timeline for when the company will activate automatic safety braking systems in the Pacific Northwest. This is the technology many experts believe could have prevented last month's deadly train derailment south of Tacoma.

Cecilia Goetz was driving to work on the Monday before Christmas when a speeding Amtrak passenger train came flying off the rails above her. As part of that train crashed onto the rear of her vehicle, she thought she might die. Now she’s one of a growing number of crash survivors who have filed lawsuits against Amtrak.

A preliminary federal crash report says an automatic safety braking system could have prevented last month's deadly Amtrak derailment near Tacoma, Washington.

Three people died and more than 60 were seriously injured when an Amtrak train going from Seattle to Portland on its inaugural passenger run along a new, faster route took a curve way too fast and hurtled from an overpass onto Interstate 5 below. 


A conductor who was at the front of the Amtrak train that derailed north of Olympia is alleging in a lawsuit filed Wednesday that the crew received inadequate training.  
An injured passenger made similar claims in a separate lawsuit filed hours later.

The December derailment killed three people, seriously injured scores more and closed southbound Interstate 5 for two-and-a-half days. 

The curve where an Amtrak train derailed on Monday killing three people was once on a list to be straightened. But that project was dropped from the list of improvements eventually made due to its high cost.

Washington state's Department of Transportation has unilaterally decided on a pre-condition before passenger trains resume service on the Point Defiance Bypass. That's where Monday's deadly derailment happened.

Six survivors of Monday's train derailment south of Tacoma have put Amtrak on notice that they plan to file a lawsuit. It's the first, probably inevitable, sign that various parties affected by the deadly train wreck are lawyering up.

Southbound Interstate 5 where Monday's Amtrak derailment sent train cars crashing down onto the freeway has re-opened. This comes as a big relief to drivers who endured hours-long detours or postponed travel between the Seattle-Tacoma area and points south.

The Washington State Department of Transportation just announced that two through lanes of Interstate 5 will reopen around 5 p.m. Wednesday at the scene of Monday’s deadly train derailment south of Tacoma.

The southbound freeway has been closed for two-and-a-half days.



Federal investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board expect to stay at least another week in Western Washington gathering evidence from Monday's deadly Amtrak train derailment.

Investigators have not yet interviewed the hospitalized train engineer.

Monday’s deadly train accident near DuPont, Washington, was the second derailment of an Amtrak Cascades in five months. That’s raising questions about the safety of the popular commuter rail line that runs between Vancouver, BC, and Eugene, Oregon.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is vowing to make passenger rail service safer. The Democrat made his comments Tuesday at the scene of Monday’s derailment of an Amtrak Cascades train in Pierce County.

Railroad contractors are making slow progress at the scene of Monday’s deadly derailment on Interstate 5, in Dupont, Washington. Three people were killed and more than 70 injured when an Amtrak train derailed on its inaugural run on a new route from Seattle to Portland.

Monday’s train derailment, is gumming up a several big shipping-distribution centers in DuPont, Washington. Workers are having trouble running their last-minute Santa-truck routes.

As clean up begins, firefighters are describing what it was like to respond to Monday’s Amtrak derailment in Pierce County, Washington.

Shortly after 7:30 a.m. during the morning commute, an Amtrak Cascades train derailed. Rail cars were on the freeway and hanging from a bridge.