Amtrak train on DC-NYC route derails, 6 dead
posted at 8:01 am on May 13, 2015 by Ed Morrissey
Late last night, an Amtrak train on one of the line’s most popular routes derailed in Philadelphia, throwing several cars and the engine off the tracks, killing at least six people and sending victims to six different area hospitals. At the moment, no one has any answers on what caused the derailment, but it’s the question on everyone’s minds:
ABC News Videos | ABC Entertainment News
At least five people died when an Amtrak train bound for New York City derailed in Philadelphia Tuesday, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter said, with six cars overturning and the engine separating from the rest of the train.
Amtrak reported that there were approximately 238 passengers and five crew members on board. Dozens of passengers have been taken to local hospitals for injuries.
“It is an absolute disastrous mess,” Nutter said this evening. “Never seen anything like this in my life.”
Five people died on the scene; a sixth person died later. Initially, the reports showed six critical cases and 43 other hospitalizations, but it’s not clear what the injury count is at the moment. One of the ad-hoc rescuers was fellow passenger and former Congressman Patrick Murphy (D-PA), who got interviewed by both ABC and CBS:
“It just happened so fast. Obviously a lot of debris, lights went out … a lot of screaming,” former Rep. Patrick Murphy said. He was on board when the train derailed.
Murphy, an Iraq vet, wasn’t injured, so he started helping those around him who were, reports CBS News correspondent Jericka Duncan.
“I just stayed back and told the people who were bleeding to put some pressure on the wounds that they were bleeding from because you don’t want to see those people bleed out,” said Murphy, who served in Congress as a Democrat from Pennsylvania’s 8th district from 2007 to 2011.
His military training came through in the moment when he didn’t want to leave anyone.
“We have an ethic in the military, you know, we leave no one behind and I wasn’t going to climb out when there were people still hurting,” Murphy said.
CBS interviewed some of the other passengers, who told the story of the derailment from their perspective:
The Department of Transportation and Philadelphia mayor Michael Nutter emphasized that no one knows the cause of the derailment yet, although that hasn’t stopped people from blaming Republicans on Twitter:
The cause wasn’t immediately known.
“We do not know what happened here. We do not know why it happened,” Nutter said. There was no indication the derailment was a result of an impact with another train, he said.
So far, there’s nothing to indicate the incident was an act of terrorism.
The NTSB has sent a “go team” to the site to get some of those answers. They will catch one break — the engineer and conductor both survived the crash:
Federal investigators are headed to Philadelphia in a bid to determine what caused an Amtrak train to derail in Port Richmond, killing at least six people and injuring dozens more.
A National Transportation Safety Board “Go Team” is scheduled to arrive at the crash scene later Wednesday morning. The Federal Railroad Administration said it also was sending at least eight investigators to the scene of what is believed to be the deadliest crash on the Northeast Corridor since 16 were killed when an Amtrak train collided with a freight train near Baltimore in 1987. …
Amtrak Train 188, bound to New York from Washington with 238 passengers and five crew members aboard, jumped the tracks just before 9:30 p.m. on a curve in a section of the Northeast Corridor known as Frankford Junction.
The area is normally under a speed restriction, requiring trains to slow down as they approach. Determining the speed of Train 188 at the time of the accident will be part of the investigation.
It’s best not to leap to conclusions without all of the data. The NTSB will probably issue some public statements in the next few days about preliminary findings, perhaps just to eliminate some of the more imaginative theories that always arise in the public sphere after events of this kind. It will take a long time to get a definitive answer, and Americans will have to remain patient while investigators do their jobs.
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Obama: The way to fix Amtrak is to change the way Fox News reports on it.
petefrt on May 13, 2015 at 8:07 AM
If we passed the Obama Stimulus II this wouldn’t of happened. I’m not joking – that’s what the insane left is saying.
crrr6 on May 13, 2015 at 8:14 AM
Thanks for spending the last 8 years fighting against transit infrastructure funding GOP. Well done.
libfreeordie on May 13, 2015 at 8:14 AM
There is a 50 MPH limit on that curve. Any bets that the engineer was texting on his phone and noticed too late that he was speeding?
The technology to slow the train automatically exists so the question is why don’t they use it. Oh wait, these are government trains. Never mind.
platypus on May 13, 2015 at 8:15 AM
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!
BallisticBob on May 13, 2015 at 8:18 AM
And Obama and his crew did exactly what about it when they had both houses of Congress and the big chair?
AMTRAK. Government train, government responsibility.
Limerick on May 13, 2015 at 8:20 AM
If only we had spent $800 billion on “shovel ready projects” or something like that…..
CDeb on May 13, 2015 at 8:28 AM
The bigoted troll runs his mouth without facts. Big shock there.
CurtZHP on May 13, 2015 at 8:30 AM
There’s no evidence that this had anything to do with “funding”. It could have been human error or any number of other things, but whatever the cause the one thing we do know if that you are a despicable person.
forest on May 13, 2015 at 8:31 AM
I see you are still around spewing garbage. Until you know why something has happened, as a decent human being with a love for fairness and logic, you would automatically WAIT for information.
But of course, that is not what you are.
And I include people of all political stripes.
The rush to judgement in anything is a human thing. It takes a reasonable fair human being to fight that urge.
America has problems bcs of people just like you.
You are part of the cancer in our society. And it is not bcs you are a liberal. It is bcs of noxious statements in rush to judgement like you just threw out here.
Badger40 on May 13, 2015 at 8:33 AM
And pro tip: intercity rail is not “transit.”
CDeb on May 13, 2015 at 8:33 AM
I blame Biden!
And then came Herr Gropenführer himself. Biden’s biography alleges that he is six feet tall, and maybe he is, but he scurried into the train in a thoroughly rodential fashion, looking tiny and terrified, like a very old man who has wandered out of a dementia ward.
Read more at: http://c4.nrostatic.com/article/417809/biden-among-we-people-kevin-d-williamson
claudius on May 13, 2015 at 8:37 AM
“It has not yet been established whether speed was a factor in the crash. But passenger Janna D’Ambrisi said she thought the train was going “a little too fast around a curve.”
I second platypus above.
It reminds me of the Spanish train wreck which was also caused by the engineer approaching a curve much too fast.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFGs6hieZg4
Viator on May 13, 2015 at 8:40 AM
Breaking: Train crash due to buckled tracks from global warming
petefrt on May 13, 2015 at 8:41 AM
Libfree must have forgotten about all that stimulus monies Obama got from the all dem congress
cmsinaz on May 13, 2015 at 8:46 AM
This is why I think libfree is a creation of HA: anyone who tries to blame the GOP for lack of infrastructure funding is extremely stupid or willfully trolling.
Hey, sock puppet, can you say $1 trillion stimulus and shovel ready jobs?
No? Can you say H.R. 749 Amtrak funded to 2019?
Mark Boabaca on May 13, 2015 at 8:46 AM
because for every single ptc tower/cell sunk you need approvals from fed epa, state epa, fed bureau of land management and also every single one has to be ok’ed by bureau of indian affairs and local historical chapters.
for each and every tower/cell placed.
this is why the 2015 target for ptc cannot be met no matter how many millions each company spends.
1 arrowhead in wrong location ruins it all.
dmacleo on May 13, 2015 at 8:46 AM
…proof…that you are retarded…sir!
JugEarsButtHurt on May 13, 2015 at 8:52 AM
My prayers go out to the families. Be ready, people. Tell your children and your parents you love them every time they/you leave the house. It can happen in an instant.
rogerb on May 13, 2015 at 8:53 AM
…thank you!
JugEarsButtHurt on May 13, 2015 at 8:56 AM
Seriously, the first words out of leftist racist’s mouth are “you didn’t throw enough money at it!”. Nothing about the poor souls killed?
You people are trash.
Bishop on May 13, 2015 at 8:58 AM
And Ed (“I love Hillary!) Rendell blames the derailment on the lack of even more “infrastructure” spending on MJ this morning.
Jonah Goldberg puts the kibbosh to this Dem pandering: http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/418298/never-let-crisis-go-waste-jonah-goldberg
onlineanalyst on May 13, 2015 at 9:11 AM
rogerb on May 13, 2015 at 8:53 AM
+++++
wifarmboy on May 13, 2015 at 9:21 AM
He probably took a curve too fast because he was too busy texting.
SoulGlo on May 13, 2015 at 9:27 AM
Yeah right, LimpPee. Infrastructure spending would have kept the train from taking a corner too fast. You and amtrack are the same= entities that rely on government and are failures because so…..
elvis lives on May 13, 2015 at 9:32 AM
FIFY.
xblade on May 13, 2015 at 9:48 AM
Seriously – the f*ck is wrong with you?
Pity you weren’t on that train.
Midas on May 13, 2015 at 10:00 AM
Now that his infrastructure BS has been debunked, his next move will be to blame racism or the war on women.
cajunpatriot on May 13, 2015 at 10:01 AM
Liberal 101…solve every problem by throwing money at them. Not fixed? Keep throwing.
Doesn’t Amtrak hemorrhage money every year, and never once turned a profit? I only took the NY/DC Amtrak train once, and never again. The train doors would open, but wouldn’t shut, and at each stop one guy apparently had to go up and down the whole train and manually close every door, adding almost two hours to the trip.
JetBoy on May 13, 2015 at 10:01 AM
Fuck you.
Jeff Weimer on May 13, 2015 at 10:03 AM
F!ck off. You are a ghoul.
Jeff Weimer on May 13, 2015 at 10:07 AM
ABC had this story 5 days ago: FBI Warns of Train Derailment Threat
That said, it was probably just going too fast. But I imagine something like this would be pretty obvious to find among the wreckage, if that’s what happened.
bofh on May 13, 2015 at 10:52 AM
You know Obama’s gonna be mad when he reads about this in the NYT’s at noon today. After all, in Obama and lefty land, the deaths are supposed to happen after you exit the train. Ask Heinrich Himmler. Cleaning the train is so hard, after all.
Right Libfree? Don’t your people totally expect death to come from train rides, just after it is over?
As to the poor people on board, best wishes.
Vanceone on May 13, 2015 at 11:07 AM
What i’ve seen from insiders is that the train was going into the curve at 106mph. The limit is 60. Contrary to earlier reports there was no collision with another train. The WHY though is the real kicker. I’ve seen info saying it was not the engineer’s fault- that there were some other “very unusual” extenuating circumstances, but I haven’t heard what they are…
Only other thing I saw that was curious is that it was reported that a Septa train had to be evacuated at North Philly due to an unknown projectile hitting the engineer’s windshield. About 10 minutes later 188 went by the Septa train and wound up derailing about 2 1\2- 3 miles at Frankford Jct …
press conf by the mayor at 10:00am
It’s a very unusual wreck and there are a lot of interesting yet unexplained things…
Free Indeed on May 13, 2015 at 11:15 AM
Well the press conference was a big nothing-burger.
Free Indeed on May 13, 2015 at 11:20 AM
BREAKING ON CNN:
Miniature Black Hole laying across track suspected in Amtrak wreck!
/
ZeusGoose on May 13, 2015 at 11:31 AM
They got money, idiot. You make it sound as though Amtrak was left with its hand out on the street and never got any funding. Go peddle that crap somewhere else.
They got money for upgrades, but none was spent in this area. That is Obozo’s fault or Amtrak, not congress.
Patriot Vet on May 13, 2015 at 11:38 AM
Taxpayers subsidize ticket prices to the tune of $60/ticket on average for Amtrack. They have received on average over $1 billion a year from taxpayers in addition to the purchase price income of the few tickets that are actually sold since the government created Amtrack.
When a fully government funded police force kills a criminal, it is the government and police department’s fault.
When a fully government funded railroad kills innocent passengers, it is the taxpayers’ fault for not giving them even more money.
airupthere on May 13, 2015 at 11:45 AM
.
The best “positive train control” is a PRIVATE business enterprise owning, and running the railroad … period.
listens2glenn on May 13, 2015 at 11:45 AM
.
Uhhh, never mind … I think everyone else pretty much covered it.
listens2glenn on May 13, 2015 at 11:47 AM
d1carter on May 13, 2015 at 11:48 AM
Actual for-profit railroad company, Union Pacific, had a profit of over $7 billion in 2013.
airupthere on May 13, 2015 at 12:01 PM
Lib (New Hampshire) motto is it?
As your Fearless Leader King Putt claims the title:
A Complete And Utter Fraud.
You are LEFT with the lesser degradation:
A Complete and Utter Fool.
Missilengr on May 13, 2015 at 12:30 PM
.
Damn evil, capitalist pigs . . . . . they chose to operate a FREIGHT railroad for PROFIT, instead of a commuter/inter-city PASSENGER railroad that really serves the people.
.
(yeah, that was sarcasm)
listens2glenn on May 13, 2015 at 12:42 PM
FIrst of all, the “cell towers” technology is irrelevant. Any GPS unit can tell you where you are, and how fast you’re moving. Adding a map which shows the maximum track speed would be trivial; and conveying that data to the locomotive’s operating computers to govern the speed accordingly should not be a problem. I believe the same technology could be used on freight locomotives – if it isn’t already. So there’s a market for a GPS-based speed governor system, and probably at least one available. The engine may even have had such a device installed… we shall find out in due course.
But there was also a report of a flash of fire and several reports of a loud BANG at the beginning of the wreck. And the engine was disconnected from the train, and the first car turned sideways. The couplings between locomotives and cars are very strong; designed to stay together in a crash. The force needed to break the engine loose suggests an explosion, not a layover from going too fast on a curve.
IMHO, YMMV, subject to change without notice, etc.
ReggieA on May 13, 2015 at 1:51 PM
FBI had bomb-dogs on the scene right away, but that’s probably SOP. What Ive seen speculated – after seeing the one coach that was obliterated- is that that coach hit the centenary pole. That would explain the loco being uncoupled and relatively undamaged. The loud bang was most likely from the high voltage lines being severed. There’s a security cam video that shows the train passing right before the derailment and you can see bright flashes. Ive read that some safety feature tries the power a couple more times and then shuts it down, which might account for the flashes of light.
From what Ive read from people on the scene it doesn’t seem like a bomb or IED. But there are a lot of things left to be resolved. They have the event recorder download, so it’ll be interesting how much info they share.
Free Indeed on May 13, 2015 at 2:54 PM
More info in on the separate SEPTA train I mentioned above. Looks like a projectile did hit the front window of that train minutes before the 188 derailed.
If you look at the pics of the loco on the 188 the front window looks like it’s been hit in maybe three places with something. Could be from the crash or it could have been before. Pretty coincidental though being so close to the timing of the SEPTA event.
THe engineer of the 188 was being questioned by local police and requested legal representation right away. Not surprising considering the amount of scrutiny he’ll be under.
Free Indeed on May 13, 2015 at 2:58 PM
Sorry, the link above is to info on the SEPTA incident.
Free Indeed on May 13, 2015 at 2:58 PM
The excessive speed angled has been confirmed.
Now the real mystery is the why. IF there was an individual out shooting at trains and hit the SEPTA and then the 188, my guess is we wont hear anything concrete right away… They’ll probably be trying to build a case.
What a shame…
Free Indeed on May 13, 2015 at 3:03 PM
read up on ptc and you’ll find out differently.
gps is, depending on final specs, possibly part of the chain but it alone is well known to fail for a variety of reasons.
the only system that works is towers/sensors alongside the track that operates fast enough to send/receive telemetry and uses frequency bands that have enough room for all the data.
keep in mind every locomotive that travels the rail has to have 100% compatibility with the systems other railroads use.
interoperability.
railroads have spent a ton of money on it over last 6-10 years but still cannot meet the deadlines due to all the permits and constantly changing specs by FRA.
its a good idea mired in a huge mess caused by self serving politicians and administrators.
dmacleo on May 13, 2015 at 4:02 PM