SEATTLE – Several people are dead after a southbound Amtrak Cascades train derailed on an overpass above Interstate 5 near Olympia. Although several motorists were injured when the train fell off the bridge, there were no fatalities on the roadway below.
Amtrak reports that there were 78 passengers and five crew members on board.
A photo posted by the Washington Department of Transportation shows multiple passenger cars and a locomotive blocking the highway and hanging off an overpass.
Amtrak confirmed via Twitter that the derailment involved train No. 501, a Seattle to Portland Cascades run that was inaugurated today with the opening of the new Point Defiance Bypass. The new route takes Amtrak Cascades and Sound Transit trains away from Puget Sound and inland toward Interstate 5, allowing for additional service between Seattle and Portland. The derailment occurred on the new bypass between Lakewood and Olympia.
Amtrak has temporarily suspended service south of Seattle. Amtrak is encouraging people with questions about friends and family who may have been aboard the train to call 800-523-9101.
The National Transportation Safety Board is mobilizing a team to investigate the derailment.
Amtrak President and Co-CEO Richard Anderson told CNN this afternoon that positive train control had not been in use on the train.
CBS News affiliate KIRO-TV talked to a man aboard the train who said at least seven cars derailed.
The train was a Talgo Series 6 trainset, Mount Adams, owned by the State of Washington. The state owns three Series 6 train sets and Amtrak owns two Series 6 train sets. The Series 6 fleet were assembled in Seattle on 1998 and started revenue service in 1999, according to a Talgo spokeswoman.
“We had just passed the city of DuPont and it seemed like we were going around a curve,” Chris Karnes says. “All of a sudden, we felt this rocking and creaking noise, and it felt like we were heading down a hill. The next thing we know, we’re being slammed into the front of our seats, windows are breaking, we stop, and there’s water gushing out of the train. People were screaming.”
State, local and federal officials were offering support and assistance to first responders and investigators immediately after the derailment. CNN reported that President Donald Trump had also been briefed and was monitoring the situation. Soon after the derailment, Trump tweeted that the incident “shows more than ever why our soon to be submitted infrastructure plan must be approved quickly” to repair “crumbling infrastructure.” However, federal officials have yet to determine what caused the derailment on the recently rebuilt route.
“This catastrophic derailment is horrific,” Seattle Mayor Jenny A. Durkan says. “My thoughts are with the passengers, families and those injured as well as our first responders, firefighters and police who rushed to the scene.”
“Today’s tragic incident in Pierce County is a serious and ongoing emergency. Trudi and I are holding in our hearts everyone on board, and are praying for the many injured. They are our top priority, and I know first responders are doing everything to ensure everyone has the care they need,” Washington Gov. Jay Inslee says.
This story was updated at 6:24 a.m. Dec. 19.
WSP diverting traffic at DuPont. WSP aiding withbroad closure & getting assistance to scene. pic.twitter.com/fRw4uGNIVv
— Trooper Brooke Bova (@wspd1pio) December 18, 2017
Photos from scene of amtrak passenger train derailment pic.twitter.com/gd09MzLCC6
— Pierce Co Sheriff (@PierceSheriff) December 18, 2017
DuPont: This SB I-5 closure is a huge pinch point. Expect all alt routes to have heavy traffic. Here is one alternative that might work for you if you must drive. #I5MountsTrain pic.twitter.com/Yn4ZFBe9md
— WSDOT Tacoma Traffic (@wsdot_tacoma) December 18, 2017
All SB lanes of I-5 blocked near Mounts Road in Pierce County due to derailed train car. Avoid area! pic.twitter.com/SBH7dCc6yg
— WSDOT Tacoma Traffic (@wsdot_tacoma) December 18, 2017
I waited a while to comment pending NTSB announcements. So we know the train was doing 78, that there was no PTC in use (but don’t know if the Talgo or this piece of track had it but the rest of the line didn’t). We know the engineer realized 5 seconds before derailment (if I understand correctly) that the train was going way too fast and did NOT hit the brakes. We think the engineer might have been distracted by the conductor trainee in the cab but NTSB didn’t mention picking that up on the cab audio recording. We would expect that this engineer had done several training runs on this new track but don’t know that for sure, since his reaction seems to have been surprise that the train was going too fast. Like he didn’t know this piece of track at all. So one way or another human error, but we don’t know what led up to it.
We also have been told that the original plan for the rebuild would have eliminated this nasty turn – but for some reason, probably to save money, it wasn’t done. Instead a half-a-s job seems to have resulted, that did eliminate grade crossings and some curves but left in a dangerous curve. We also have to guess that even if there was PTC on the tracks and on the train, that it would not be turned on for a fairly short piece of track that the rest of the line had not yet gotten PTC. Also, that there was no older system, such as LIRR has – especially on this new track.
Distractions in the cab can be a big problem. First day run combines a lack of real experience on a piece of track with knowing that everyone is watching, plus you can have extra people in the cab. Back in the early to mid 1990’s, LIRR one morning made its first official revenue run of a new, prototype, bilevel train, 8 cars, with a completely rebuilt FL9AC on each end. It was a big deal because this would be the first run of a train from diesel country by me into Penn Station without changing trains somewhere such as Jamaica Station. I had a camera with me and took a photo of the train pulling into the East Northport station. When I blew it up on screen I realized that the cab was stuffed full of people (I think including the LIRR president). Talk about possible distractions, but presumably the train was equipped with ATSC (though lots of slow spots had never been programmed in back then). Fortunately, train went without incident – followed by several years of frequent breakdowns as LIRR failed to maintain the equipment. But hey – one gabby trainee in the cab might have made a difference. Hopefully we will soon know, to be followed by yet more rules on in cab behavior.
Bottom line, if you are going to up grade track and equipment to 79 MPH then you are obligated to up grade signals and have an automatic speed control device in service and working, whether it is PTC or the old ATC / Cab signal systems that were working 50 years ago. the system used on the PRR / LIRR signaled l a speed change in the cab, with a required acknowledgment from the cab and an application of the automatic train
brakes to slow to the speed indicated, it was not rocket science but it worked, at the present time we seem to keep spinning wheels with no light at the end of the tunnel other then dates that keep sliding away.
one more observation , if the train was going to fast for the curve wouldn,t the engine and trailing cars all land up flipped over the right side of the bridge ,you look at the pictures a lot of the cars landed up before the bridge on the left side , I still say the train was in trouble way before the curve of the bridge , you also see whats left of a light tower or a signal , that’s my thought.
Why wasn’t any kind of train control system used? Even though the requirement for PTC keeps getting why wasn’t it installed on a passenger line during the rebuilding. Next question was there just too much horsepower for the train with a GE loco at each end? When the lead unit went off did the rear unit keep pushing?
Gordon Clark – I have to agree with you. When I started at the CPR (Soo div) in the 90s we still had GP9 locos that were built in the early 50s on our roster and used them daily. There was no way anyone could lose the least bit of their consciousness in any of those rattletraps working the line. Contrast that with the more modern locos that have cabs resembling more of an office environment with noise reduction and more creature comforts. As a conductor I worked in both types of locos and the differences are extreme.
What???
Pullman Cars-6,Light Weight 4, Euro 2, Talgo 1! That is the Number of AXELs per Car! Which TRACKS Better? [Steers!] Link&Pin, Janney, Buffer&Screw,Tank Car Janney,SOLID Bar! That are some of the Types of Couplers! WHICH causes LESS~~~RUN In/Out? Two,Three,Five, Six, these are SOME of the Numbers in the Word TRAIN SET! Wooden,Concret,Combo,Other! Types of TIES! This Scene had at least TWO! Bolted,Welded, 1320 foot Lengths! This site had at least 2! Tie Length, At least 3 Can be seen! Rail Weight? In #’s per Yard, ie 112, 132, 152! At least 2 Can be seen! Ballast Type? At least 2 are visible! “DEADMAN!” what type? Black BOX? Usually, Next to the BALLAST on the Loco! AND in the Dispatcher,POWER Director,Loco Repair Office~~~AND on a Couple of Websites! The Speed was 81.1MPH! Did Mulder and Scully supply these numbers? “BIG HOLE!” would have happened as soon as George Westinghouse’s Invention was set in Motion! Cell Phone USE? Lastly. this Story Provides FACTs that some of YOU did NOT Read, Look at, or Consider~~~BEFORE you arrived at your Expert Opinions! The YOUNG, female WSP Officer had Annimated GIF’s on her Twitter Account which she was Posting OFFICAL Police Business! PLUS, you need to consider ALL of the “Radio” Chatter used by FNC,CNN, Local TV and other NEWS reports! I will be happy to provide further FACTs IF asked! TRAINS did Good Work on this Terrible News Event! John Ellwood Burtscher, Flint, MI Bad Water,Hijackers, BUT not Bad FACTS!
Thanks Carl for your remembrance of two wonderful men who gave so much towards improved rail transportation.
Robert, it’s the way liberals think to do things.
GORDON CLARK: medical examination and drug testing are part of the investigation. Maybe someone else already commented on that. According to one report, an assistant conductor doing qualifying and a Siemens tech also were in the cab; so there is the possibility of distraction.
So sad for people who were looking forward to this trip as a fulfillment on such hard work to achieve this project. Then to lose your life in the moment of celebration!
There’s an eerie similarity to another wreck a couple of years ago in France–remember this one?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3318523/Five-dead-seven-injured-train-derails-France-ensd-canal.html
A test run of a TGV went too fast, off a bridge, into a canal. Seems they were having a party on board, and kids were riding too, and got killed.
I can not wrap my head around the incompetence required to lose “situational awareness” on a job like this. Every day people drive cars and trucks where they would have a catastrophic wreck if they lost track of what they were doing, but don’t.
That said I do wonder about these new locomotives–may sound far fetched, but not impossible that either high-current switched power, mechanical vibrations, or multiple wireless systems, can induce a kind of hypnosis, along with watching the track, where some people lose consciousness without passing out. Might sound farfetched but really, these kinds of energies and their effects on the nervous system are not fully known.
most unfortunate and sad situation, but the one item that jumps out at me is “why would there be a 30mph section on a ‘higher’ speed route newly rebuilt at great expense”? Europeans must be laughing at what the American press calls ‘high speed trains’, but seriously, even by American standards, why would there be a 30 mph section? and if you say “a curve there”, aren’t Talgo trains supposed to be able to take curves at higher speeds, and since the track has recently been upgraded, why wasn’t some superelevation put into the curve?
As we all knew they would be, Jim Hamre (of All Aboard Washington/WASHARP and a Board member of NARP) and his great friend Zach Wilhoite (also an AAW/NARP activist) were on Amtrak Train 501 on the first run over the new route yesterday and they were, unbelievably, two of the three killed in the horrible derailment of that train.
Permit me to share some thoughts I posted a moment ago on Jim and Zach’s Facebook feeds. I can’t even begin to express my grief! Zach was the kindest, smartest, most decent guy, and even more an extraordinarily insightful friend. Jim Hamre was quite simply the brother I never had, my best friend and a far better person than me.
I met Jim in 1981. Even then he was working on citizen advocacy for public transport. We leafleted, went to public meetings, mutually joined the NARP Board, but mostly had fun together. I met Zach through Jim. They were soul-mates. They went with me on tours I led to Europe and the world. We ate pizza together, laughed together, saw glorious scenery and wonderful places. The last time we were all three together was with Taylor and Jim’s so beautiful mom Carolyn at his house for a steak barbecue last July. I spent a week then with Jim to visit Hells Canyon, the Columbia Gorge, the Sumpter Valley RR, and to talk trains, politics, history, friends and simply to share with someone who could finish my thoughts and keep me sane. And I saw Jim again (thank God) for five days in Chicago last month at the NARP 50th Birthday Conference, but sadly not Zach. Warren Yee was there, and that is a comfort.
I’m going to have to be unusually quiet for me to take this in, but oh God what a bloody waste. Three fatalities too many and so many of us knew two of them and they were so fine.
Apologies if Charles Powell or any one else took offence at my earlier post but the inescapable fact remains that the US has, by a wide margin, a worse passenger train accident record in terms of incidents per miles operated than any other major country – even India which has a bad record but scores more highly than the US due to the number of services it operates. And that is something which, in my opinion, should be a big worry to you all and you should be asking yourselves: Why?
Professionally, I am involved in aspects of engineer training and competence management here in the UK and I have some knowledge of same in the US and it is a fact that the standards and procedures applied here here are superior.
It should be noted here that there have been three major US accidents in four years where excessive speed into a curve has been found to be, or in this case, is suspected to be the cause and each of those it was as a result of the engineer not having his train under proper control – if he did the excess speed would not have occurred and the accidents happened. In neither of the previous accidents was, to my knowledge, a track or equipment defect held to be a contributing factor and I suspect that will also be the case this time.
In contrast, the last derailment due to excessive speed into a curve in the UK was at Morpeth as long ago as 1984! How many millions of passenger trains have we run since?! OK, so there was the incident in Croydon last year but that was on a light rail line which until now has not been subject to such high standards – something that is now going to change as LRT drivers will be required to meet the same competency standards as their main line brethren and the cars and lines have similar safety systems.
As a simple example of how speed can be managed without the expense and complication of PTC, in the UK every major reduction of speed is preceded by an Advanced Warning Indicator sign located at the start of the braking distance from the commencement board for the speed restriction. Next to the AWI is a permanent magnet on the track which will activate the Automatic Warning System of any traction unit passing over and sound a warning in the cab. The engineer then has 2 seconds to respond and start making a brake application or the train will go automatically into emergency. Having come to a stop he then has to wait 60 seconds before the system allows him to retake control. All this would be apparent to the controlling signaller and recorded on the train’s data recorder. The sheer embarrassment to any engineer’s ego is sufficient to ensure they do not have to respond to the dreaded “Please explain” form!
I’m not saying we are perfect, far from it. We had a bad run of accidents around the turn of the present century just after privatisation although that was a coincidence not a factor. Of five major accidents in four years, one was down to an external factor (a vehicle falling off a road bridge in front of an approaching train compounded by a second train being too close to avoid colliding with the wreckage) and two each caused by track defects and as a result of SPADs (Signals Passed At Danger). As a result of these directly and not due to the understandable public and media concern, the industry took a hard look at itself and introduced a raft of new safety systems, route risk assessments and competency management procedures. The result is we have not had a single serious accident resulting in serious passenger injury or loss of life since 2004.
Is it not time, the US industry did the same?
Finally, Charles Landey says I asked why there were not two men in the cab. Re-read my post and you will find I did no such thing. In the UK, ALL trains, passenger and freight, operate with a single person in the cab and have done so for many years. When a second person is present it is for training or engineer assessment reasons. Our policy is that the presence of a second person in the cab is a distraction and when such a person is present conversation is discouraged except in the pursuit of the occupants’ duties.
The unbalance equilibrium at 80 mph for an approximate 1,000-ft radius curve would be almost 25 inches, putting the center of gravity almost over the outer rail and point of overturning. This puts a lot of force on the flange and the angle of the lead axle wheel and flange of the locomotive truck would not be perpendicular to the rail and result in a tendency for the wheel to climb the rail, derailing the locomotive.
I objected earlier to the speculation on speed because it wasn’t confirmed – but it is now: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/transportation/curve-where-amtrak-train-derailed-in-washington-has-speed-limit-of-30-mph/
Thanks too for the clarification that a wee bit of this track (a few city blocks, really) is ex-Milwaukee. You can (eventually) get to Mt Rainier Scenic from Freighthouse Square via the ex-Milwaukee line up the Tacoma “gulch”. For Amtrak/Sound Transit however, they built a steep all-new connection from Freighthouse Square to join the ex-NP line climbing South Tacoma Hill.
All accidents are preventable and every accident leaves us with lessons to be learned. Hopefully not the same lessons as the last big pile up. Let’s just hope that lessons from this crash, which seem to once again include excessive speed, will galvanise those responsible for implementing PTC now around 2 years past deadline.
And before anyone else holds UK Rail up as an exemplar let’s just remember how many catastrophic crashes had to occur before the message got through over here that continuous brakes, interlocking and block signalling were a necessity for safe high speed travel.
Has Amtrak worn out its welcome? Tragically, Amtrak has another serious passenger wreck to add to their long list of accidents and loss of life since inception in 1971. Make no mistake; Amtrak has not achieved a program of progressive equipment updates, operational safety and much needed installation of PTC. On an inaugural run, of this trains operation one would expect total excellence. Please call your attention to the sharp curve as the track exits the I-5 overpass bridge. NSTB has released to the media that this curve had a speed limit of 30-mph, the train was estimated to have approached at 80-mph. Navigation of this route was incredibly incompetent, that’s my take on this. The same series of events and crew operation that caused the horrible Amtrak crash in Philadelphia 2015 is apparent in this episode as well. Media has called this, “a high speed train”. This was not! It’s the operation of antiquated Talgo trainsets, that are actually light-weight conventional passenger cars. This event is a huge call for change and the design and build of genuine fast train operation on the Cascade transit route, with new high-tech motive power and passenger car design. Trains that can operate up to 110-mph safely as the upgraded Amtrak service between Chicago-St. Louis-Detroit. My prayers and sympathy for the families of deceased passengers.
A very sad day, I lost two good friends as long time rail advocates and very active members of All Aboard Washington, Jim Hamre and Zack Wilhoite, were among those who perished in the derailment. These gentlemen were dedicated to passenger rail travel and supported it with great passion including traveling all over the world on both famous and obscure passenger trains.
It might be worth observing–but drawing no conclusions–that both the Amtrak 188 train and this one were led by new Seimans locomotives (one electric, one diesel-electric), and both seem to involve excessive speed into a restricted curve. It’s makes me wonder whether there might be something in the desktop controls of these units that misleads or confuses the engineer, or a bug in the computer controls programming. If so, presumably the ‘black box’ and in-cab camera, along with the engineer interviews, will tell the investigators. That information was apparently lacking in the Philadelphia wreck. /Mr Lynn
AL DICENSO: Among other things, PTC incorporates a database of permanent and temporary speed restrictions that are displayed and would have first alerted the engineer, then if no action taken, would bring the train to a stop.
poussin jean-claude The Talgo derailment in Spain also was due to a substantial and similar overspeed event that a non-articulated train with conventional bogies would not survive. Note that the leading Charger (SC44) locomotive with conventional bogies appears to have gone straight off the curve from the tangent, pulling the following cars off the track.
In one picture pointed south, showing the trailing locomotive, I could see a abrupt departure, facing south, in the tracks on the curve. The tracks make an adjustment to a tighter radius than the first curve…runs “straight” about 15 feet, and resumes the first radius of the curve. It appears to be close to the point where the lead locomotive left the track and headed for the interstate. The track at this point did not show any damage, that was apparent in the photo.
Talgos are modern high-speed trainsets in use elsewhere at speeds over 150 mph. All high-speed trains except US/Amtrak Acela are lightweight. FWIW, notice that one coach fell off the bridge and did not crush the coach below; and none seem to have suffered major structural failure!