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PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Amtrak says it will abide by a series of directives from the Federal Railroad Administration in response to Tuesday's deadly derailment in Philadelphia.
They include immediately expanding the use of a speed restriction system to northbound tracks in Philadelphia. The automatic train control system notifies an engineer when a train is above the speed limit and automatically applies the brakes if the engineer doesn't act to slow the train down. It's already in use on the southbound rails approaching the curve where the derailment occurred.
Investigators are trying to determine why the train hit 106 mph in the minute before reaching the curve, which is a 50 mph zone.
The Federal Railroad Administration has also ordered Amtrak to analyze curves to assess risks on the busy stretch of tracks between Washington and Boston. And Amtrak will have to increase the amount and frequency of signage alerting engineers and conductors of the maximum authorized speed.
Amtrak says its "overarching goal is to provide safe and secure rail passenger travel."
Eight people were killed in the derailment, and 200 injured. Eight people remain in critical condition.
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188-v-30-(Violet Ikonomova (ee-koh-NOH'-moh-vah), AP correspondent)--Federal officials want Amtrak to immediately expand use of a speed restriction system in the area of Tuesday's deadly derailment. AP correspondent Violet Ikonomova reports. (16 May 2015)
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189-c-22-(Violet Ikonomova (ee-koh-NOH'-moh-vah), AP correspondent)-"by year's end"-AP correspondent Violet Ikonomova reports the Federal Railroad Administration is telling Amtrak to start using a speed restriction system on trains traveling north through Philadelphia. (16 May 2015)
<<CUT *189 (05/16/15)££ 00:22 "by year's end"
APPHOTO MDPS201: In this May 13, 2015 photo, emergency personnel work at the scene of a deadly train wreck in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) (13 May 2015)
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APPHOTO PAPHQ101: This May 12, 2015 photo shows a broken windshield of an Amtrak train after it derailed in Philadelphia. The FBI has been called in to investigate the possibility that the windshield of the train was hit with an object shortly before deadly train derailment. The revelation came at a National Transportation Safety Board briefing on Friday evening, raising new questions about the accident. (Elizabeth Robertson/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT PHIX OUT; TV OUT; MAGS OUT; NEWARK OUT (12 May 2015)
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