Amtrak train crashes, derails in Philadelphia
 

At least 5 fatalities R.I.P. :(

Yahoo News

When you see the state of some of the track in the USA, I'm surprised that there are not a lot more derailments.

It looks like the driver was speeding.

Investigators: Train in deadly wreck was speeding 106 mph

NEW YORK TIMES LINK: Wednesday morning, while the wreckage lay on the tracks, the Republican majority on the House Appropriations Committee voted to cut Amtrak’s budget by about $260 million.

NEW YORK TIMES LINK “When trains would run late, I would tease him about it,” his friend James Weir said in a phone interview. “But he would say there is a lot to do to make sure everything is safe on the train. Safety is his priority.”

Well people ALWAYS bitch about how the UK is the most expensive railway in Europe, and one of the reasons is the safety systems that we have.

SAFETY COSTS

I would never say that an accident like this couldn't happen here (some Safety Industry experts reckon that we're due for a big one soon) but we do have TPWS.

In most locations where there is a Permanent Speed reduction of over 33% there is a set of TPWS Overspeed Sensor Loops located on the approach, and they are permanently energised.

If a train travelling at or above the trigger speed passes over the loops, the onboard equipment will fire an Emergency Brake Application. In most traction types the brakes will not release until after the train has come to a stand. And the OSS loops are placed sufficiently far in the rear of the PSR to ensure that the train has slowed suffficiently to be compliant with the speed reduction.

HTH, BW

PS - Lady Gaga has just drawn my attention to a report which states that the train may have been struck by a flying object, and increased in speed. Hmmm, fascinating. :confused:


Linky here...http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-32757113