The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reports that the Amtrak train that derailed on Monday on its way to Portland from Seattle was going 80 mph on a 30 mph track. Sadly, Amtrak derailments are not particularly unusual and the transportation system has long been known for its incompetence and “weak safety culture,” which brings up the question, why does the government continue to subsidize Amtrak?
Three people were killed in Monday's train derailment and more than 100 were injured when one of two engines and 12 cars derailed, tumbling the cars onto a busy interstate highway below. The train had been making its inaugural run on a 14.5 mile stretch of refurbished track, the Washington Post reports. If an automatic braking system had been operating, the train would have been slowed down before reaching the curve where it derailed.
This is the second time in two years that an Amtrak train derailed because it was traveling at twice the speed limit. In May 2015, a train bound for New York derailed in Philadelphia after going 106 mph where the speed was restricted to 50 mph.
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