Some fatalities, scores injured in Amtrak train derailment between Tacoma & Olympia, Washington

[Sylvia]

http://www.king5.com/article/traffi...red-in-amtrak-crash-near-dupont/281-500303305

A high-speed Amtrak train derailed onto Interstate 5 near DuPont between Tacoma and Olympia Monday. Multiple fatalities were reported and 77 people went to area hospitals. Drivers were being told to avoid the area and expect alternate routes to be backed up for a couple of days.
[Washington state] Governor Jay Inslee has declared a state of emergency.

Amtrak Cascades train 501 was headed southbound when it crashed around 7:45 a.m. It included 12 cars plus two engines. Thirteen of those 14 cars jumped the tracks, according to the Washington State Patrol.
At least two of the derailed cars were hanging off an overpass. Another car was upside down on the freeway.
There were 77 passengers and five crew members on board.
... several cars on I-5 were struck by the derailed Amtrak train cars. Multiple motorists were injured, but none of those motorists were killed.

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/train-derails-from-bridge-onto-interstate-5-near-olympia/

The Associated Press, citing an unnamed U.S. official, reported that at least six people were killed in the crash. A person familiar with the response said that first responders are still searching the wreckage scene for victims and are unable to say with certainty how many fatalities there are. He also said cranes are on their way to move a train car that is still dangling over the freeway and could still fall.

 

[AxelAnnie]

It must have been horrific for everyone! I read that one theory is that there was something on the tracks.

 

[Vash01]

Very sad. . Sympathies to those who lost lives or were injured.

I read about the accident as breaking news and immediately emailed my nephew who lives in Seattle. He replied that his route to work is different (by car).

 

[Coco]

Is it true this was the first train to travel this route?

 

[UMBS Go Blue]

I love taking the Cascades train whenever I'm up in the Pacific Northwest. Very sad to hear about the accident and hope all our FSUers up there weren't affected.

 

[Sylvia]

Is it true this was the first train to travel this route?

Amtrak derailment occurred along new, $181M rail corridor: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattl...ilment-occurred-along-new-181m-rail-corridor/

Monday’s fatal derailment of an Amtrak train occurred on a rebuilt, $181 million passenger corridor that was supposed to make the trip between Seattle and Portland more reliable.
Amtrak Cascades 501, with 77 passengers and seven crew aboard, was the first scheduled trip to use a new 14.5-mile bypass track from Tacoma to DuPont, instead of a slow but scenic path along Puget Sound at Tacoma Narrows.
The railcars derailed onto I-5 on an old overpass that was outfitted with new rails, said Janet Matkin, spokeswoman for the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT). There are no switches in the immediate area, she said.

From the first Seattle Times article linked in post #1:

A passenger on the train, Chris Karnes, said they seemed to be traveling normally during the inaugural trip of a new higher-speed service intended to shave 10 minutes off the trip from Seattle to Portland. Then he felt the jolt.
“It was a split second between that and being launched into the seats in front of us,” he said Monday.
The speed limit there is 30 mph, a Washington State Department of Transportation spokeswoman said. At some location before the overpass, the train had reportedly reached full speed of 79 mph.
In this stretch of track, a train engineer faces the challenge of decelerating in a short space, when approaching the curve and bypass, said John Hiatt, a longtime private investigator in train safety disputes.
“A downward grade coming into that curve, you’ve got that working against you. You’ve got to make a pretty good estimate of how to get that down from 81 to 30,” Hiatt said of the track, located near Mounts Road outside of DuPont. “From what I’ve heard, there were several complaints by engineers about this.”

 

[Coco]

Thanks, @Sylvia How horrible!

 

[skatingfan5]

Very sad news. Hope that those injured recover fully; sympathy to the families of those who lost their lives.

 

[Vash01]

So far three dead, as per NBC. What a terrible tragedy!

 

[paskatefan]

Just horrific!

 

[Skittl1321]

NBC is reporting today that the train was going 80 mph in a 30 mph zone, per the data recorder in the rear engine. Yesterday I saw people arguing it was only going 20 mph, so speed couldn't have been at fault.

 

[MacMadame]

Interesting that the death count went down. Usually, it goes up!

Also, the conspiracy theorists are at it. "Why aren't they calling it terrorism?!" they are saying. Idiots.

 

[Vash01]

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-new...l-transit-employee-among-those-killed-n831106

This article is about a transit employee who was killed and pictures of some survivors (warning- some may be hard to see).

The death toll is listed at 3, just like yesterday.

 

[MacMadame]

The death toll is listed at 3, just like yesterday.

There were headline saying it was 6 dead all day yesterday.