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2015 Philadelphia train derailment
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2015 Philadelphia train derailment
On May 12, 2015, an Amtrak Northeast Regional train from Washington, D.C., bound for New York City derailed and wrecked on the Northeast Corridor near the Port Richmond neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Of the 238 passengers and five crew on board, eight were killed and over 200 were injured, with 11 critically so. The train was traveling at 102 miles per hour (164 km/h) in a 50 mph (80 km/h) zone of curved tracks when it derailed. The wreck was the deadliest on the Northeast Corridor since 1987, when 16 people died in a crash near Baltimore.
Some of the passengers had to be extricated from the wrecked cars. Many of the passengers and local residents helped first responders during the rescue operation. Five local hospitals treated the injured. The derailment disrupted train service for several days.
The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the derailment was caused by the train's engineer (driver) becoming distracted by other radio transmissions and losing situational awareness, and said that it would have been prevented by positive train control, a computerized speed-limiting system that was operational elsewhere on the Northeast Corridor, but whose activation at the wreck site had been delayed due to regulatory requirements. The track in question was also not equipped with ATC (automatic train control), an older and simpler system that had been operational for years on the southbound track of the curve at which the derailment occurred, and that also would have limited the train's speed entering the curve. Shortly after the derailment, Amtrak completed ATC installation on the northbound track.
The train engineer, 32-year-old Brandon Bostian, was arrested and charged with one count of causing a catastrophe, eight counts of involuntary manslaughter, and 238 counts of reckless endangerment. On March 4, 2022, a jury acquitted Bostian on all counts.
At about 9:10 p.m. (EDT) on Tuesday, May 12, 2015, Amtrak's northbound Northeast Regional No. 188 departed Philadelphia's 30th Street Station en route to New York City from Washington D.C. The train consisted of seven cars hauled by a year-old Amtrak Cities Sprinter (ACS)-64 locomotive, No. 601. The engineer was Brandon Bostian, who had begun working the route a few weeks prior.
The train entered a four-degree left curve on the four-track line at the railroad's Frankford Junction near the intersection of Frankford Avenue and Wheatsheaf Lane, where it derailed and wrecked at approximately 9:23 p.m.(EDT). Passengers reported that the front of the train shook at first, before coming to an abrupt stop. The entire train went off the track, with three cars rolling onto their sides. The train sustained at least $9.2 million in estimated damages.
The train should have been slowing to approach the curve with a reduced speed of 80 mph (130 km/h) during its approach, and 50 mph (80 km/h) within the curve itself, but instead, it had accelerated into the curve and was traveling at 106 mph (171 km/h) as its engineer applied the emergency brake, and 102 mph (164 km/h) when it derailed, according to Robert L. Sumwalt, the National Transportation Safety Board's lead investigator, who cited the onboard event recorder recovered from the wreckage. Transportation officials said the windshield of the locomotive may have been hit by a projectile shortly before the derailment.
Proponents argue the train should have been equipped with positive train control (PTC), which can automatically stop a train or slow it to a safe speed if the engineer fails to do so promptly. Amtrak officials said PTC had been installed on the tracks ahead of a Congress-mandated December 2015 deadline, but had yet to be operational due to "budgetary shortfalls, technical hurdles and bureaucratic rules". For four years, the railroad struggled with the FCC to purchase the rights to airwaves in the Northeast Corridor required for PTC, which might have limited the train's speed and thereby prevented the wreck. During a press conference, NTSB member Robert Sumwalt told reporters, "Based on what we know right now, we feel that had such a system been installed in this section of track, this accident would not have occurred." The track in question was not equipped with Automatic Train Control (ATC), which had been operational for years on the southbound track of the curve at which the derailment occurred, and which also would have limited the train's speed entering the curve. Shortly after the derailment, Amtrak completed ATC installation on the northbound track.
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2015 Philadelphia train derailment
On May 12, 2015, an Amtrak Northeast Regional train from Washington, D.C., bound for New York City derailed and wrecked on the Northeast Corridor near the Port Richmond neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Of the 238 passengers and five crew on board, eight were killed and over 200 were injured, with 11 critically so. The train was traveling at 102 miles per hour (164 km/h) in a 50 mph (80 km/h) zone of curved tracks when it derailed. The wreck was the deadliest on the Northeast Corridor since 1987, when 16 people died in a crash near Baltimore.
Some of the passengers had to be extricated from the wrecked cars. Many of the passengers and local residents helped first responders during the rescue operation. Five local hospitals treated the injured. The derailment disrupted train service for several days.
The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the derailment was caused by the train's engineer (driver) becoming distracted by other radio transmissions and losing situational awareness, and said that it would have been prevented by positive train control, a computerized speed-limiting system that was operational elsewhere on the Northeast Corridor, but whose activation at the wreck site had been delayed due to regulatory requirements. The track in question was also not equipped with ATC (automatic train control), an older and simpler system that had been operational for years on the southbound track of the curve at which the derailment occurred, and that also would have limited the train's speed entering the curve. Shortly after the derailment, Amtrak completed ATC installation on the northbound track.
The train engineer, 32-year-old Brandon Bostian, was arrested and charged with one count of causing a catastrophe, eight counts of involuntary manslaughter, and 238 counts of reckless endangerment. On March 4, 2022, a jury acquitted Bostian on all counts.
At about 9:10 p.m. (EDT) on Tuesday, May 12, 2015, Amtrak's northbound Northeast Regional No. 188 departed Philadelphia's 30th Street Station en route to New York City from Washington D.C. The train consisted of seven cars hauled by a year-old Amtrak Cities Sprinter (ACS)-64 locomotive, No. 601. The engineer was Brandon Bostian, who had begun working the route a few weeks prior.
The train entered a four-degree left curve on the four-track line at the railroad's Frankford Junction near the intersection of Frankford Avenue and Wheatsheaf Lane, where it derailed and wrecked at approximately 9:23 p.m.(EDT). Passengers reported that the front of the train shook at first, before coming to an abrupt stop. The entire train went off the track, with three cars rolling onto their sides. The train sustained at least $9.2 million in estimated damages.
The train should have been slowing to approach the curve with a reduced speed of 80 mph (130 km/h) during its approach, and 50 mph (80 km/h) within the curve itself, but instead, it had accelerated into the curve and was traveling at 106 mph (171 km/h) as its engineer applied the emergency brake, and 102 mph (164 km/h) when it derailed, according to Robert L. Sumwalt, the National Transportation Safety Board's lead investigator, who cited the onboard event recorder recovered from the wreckage. Transportation officials said the windshield of the locomotive may have been hit by a projectile shortly before the derailment.
Proponents argue the train should have been equipped with positive train control (PTC), which can automatically stop a train or slow it to a safe speed if the engineer fails to do so promptly. Amtrak officials said PTC had been installed on the tracks ahead of a Congress-mandated December 2015 deadline, but had yet to be operational due to "budgetary shortfalls, technical hurdles and bureaucratic rules". For four years, the railroad struggled with the FCC to purchase the rights to airwaves in the Northeast Corridor required for PTC, which might have limited the train's speed and thereby prevented the wreck. During a press conference, NTSB member Robert Sumwalt told reporters, "Based on what we know right now, we feel that had such a system been installed in this section of track, this accident would not have occurred." The track in question was not equipped with Automatic Train Control (ATC), which had been operational for years on the southbound track of the curve at which the derailment occurred, and which also would have limited the train's speed entering the curve. Shortly after the derailment, Amtrak completed ATC installation on the northbound track.
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