WASHINGTON – The National Transportation Safety Board will hold a board meeting May 21, 2019, at 1 p.m. to determine the probable cause of the fatal Dec. 18, 2017, Amtrak Cascades accident near DuPont, Wash.
Three passengers were killed and 65 others including passengers, crew, and occupants of highway vehicles were injured when Amtrak train No. 501, traveling at 78 mph, derailed from a highway overpass near DuPont. The accident happened during the first regular passenger service trip on a single main track near milepost 19.86. The lead locomotive, the power car, and two passenger railcars derailed onto Interstate 5, and eight highway vehicles came into contact with the derailed equipment.
Previously released information about the accident investigation is available at www.ntsb.gov.
An aerial view of the accident scene.
Washington State Patrol via NTSB
time to close this case and put in better systems we are getting too many wrecks.
Mr. Cook, looking at an overhead view of the area provided by google earth the railroad is bordered by I-5 on the south and a golf course on the north with development to the east. I do not see any room for your proposed jug handle. I am sure an attempt to use the land that belongs to the golf course would be met by a long and drawn out legal process. It would also seem to me the railroad would lose such a fight. I would agree with Mr Livesey the the curve did not kill anyone, human error did. All railroads have areas where there are speed restrictions due to tight curvature. It is the responsibility of the train crew to observe and operate their train safely thru these speed restricted areas.
To curious Arnold: NONE. Didn’t you read this was the first revenue train since the line was rebuilt for higher passenger speed. They failed to rebuild it properly with a broader curve.
I am just curious how many other derailments have occurred at this location prior to this incident. What was the cause of those incidents?
The bridge occurs at one of the most restricted geological and geographical spots in Western Washington. Major river mouth (Nisqualley), wildlife refuge, freeway (an NO detour available), major military base, tribal lands, and actually two RR right of ways.
A 30mph curve does not “kill people”. It should simply be inconvenient. The engineer’s mistake added to the failure to install an operative overriding safety system “killed people”.
So why is the track not rebuilt with a Jug-handle design curving first to the right and then left to a much broader curve leading into the bridge that would not have a turnover speed near the line speed? REMOVE the 30 mph curve into the bridge and make it a 50 mph curve by using a reverse curve in advance. The design killed the people.