Train’s Speed Was Normal Until Minutes Before It Derailed
Washington
Baltimore
Recent Trains
Typical high speeds
Train No. 188
Recorded speeds
Wilmington
Philadelphia
Trenton
Princeton
Newark
Manhattan
20 Miles
The Northeast Regional Train No. 188 that derailed on Tuesday had been traveling at speeds similar to earlier trains along the route from Washington to Philadelphia. A National Transportation Safety Board official said that train engineers are expected to know the speed restrictions along the entire route.
Site of derailment
Frankford Junction
To N.Y.C.
Pennsylvania
The median speed in this section was 58 m.p.h.
Trains usually accelerate to more than 100 m.p.h. after the junction.
94 m.p.h.
106 m.p.h.
58 m.p.h.
Most trains slow as they approach the curve into Frankford Junction. Train No. 188 accelerated.
Width of orange
band represents
typical speeds.
29 m.p.h.
The median speed of trains in this section in the three days before the accident was 29 m.p.h.
Philadelphia
New
Jersey
30th Street
Station
Train No. 188
49 m.p.h.
1 Mile
From Washington
1The median speed of trains in this section in the three days before the accident was 29 m.p.h.
2The median speed in this section was 58 m.p.h.
3Most trains slow as they approach the curve into Frankford Junction. Train No. 188 accelerated.
4Trains usually accelerate to more than 100 m.p.h. after the junction.
Where the Safety System That Might Have
Prevented the Accident Has Been Installed
The derailment area was not yet equipped with a safety system called positive train control that is designed to keep trains below maximum speed. Congress has mandated that all rail lines have the system by year’s end. Amtrak has installed it on three sections of the Northeast Corridor. “Based on what we know, had such a system been installed in this section of track, this accident would not have occurred,” said Robert Sumwalt, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board.
N.H.
VT.
Buffalo
N.Y.
Boston
MASS.
Sections of the
Northeast Corridor
equipped with
positive train
control
R.I.
CONN.
New Haven
PA.
Pittsburgh
New York
Philadelphia
N.J.
Site of train
derailment
Baltimore
MD.
W.VA.
Washington
DEL.
Train Was Going Twice the Speed Limit
The train derailed at about 9:21 p.m. along a curved stretch of track about eight miles from where the train left 30th Street Station in Philadelphia. An official with the National Transportation Safety Board said the train was traveling at about 106 miles per hour when the engineer applied the brakes, just moments before the derailment.
PENNSYLVANIA
Amtrak
Northeast
Corridor line
speed limit on
straightaway:
80 m.p.h.
To New York
Site of
train derailment
Engine
From
Washington
30th
Street
Station
NEW
JERSEY
speed limit in curve:
50 m.p.h.
Approximate positions
of derailed cars
Delaware R.
Philadelphia
3 miles
A Scene of Devastation
Most of the train’s passenger cars tumbled onto their sides and crumpled. The first car was mangled almost beyond recognition.
The engine pulling the train separated from the passenger cars and came to rest diagonally across another set of tracks.
First car
To New York
First car
Business class
Engine
Second car
Quiet car
From
Washington
Fourth car
Cafe car
