FRA Issues Emergency Order To Control Amtrak Train Speeds
By Walt Hunter
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Federal Railroad Administration today issued an Emergency Order that will "assist in controlling passenger train speeds at certain locations on the Northeast Corridor."
Last Tuesday night, eight passengers died and nearly 200 were hurt when Amtrak train 188 derailed on the Frankford Junction Curve in Port Richmond.
The FRA Order requires Amtrak to fully implement ATC speed control systems on the northbound tracks at the curve, something Amtrak officials did before service was resumed on the busy rail route Monday morning.
The FRA Order also requires Amtrak to "identify each main track curve where there is a reduction of more than 20 MPH from the maximum authorized approach speed to that curve for passenger trains, and provide a list of each location to the FRA."
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board have determined that Train 188 was travelling at 106 miles an hour into the curve, more than twice the speed limit of 50 miles per hour.
The FRA also ordered Amtrak to come up with an action plan for safety improvements and to install additional speed signage along its rail routes.
Acting Federal Railroad Administrator Sarah Feinberg, in a press release, issued a statement reading, in part, "the steps we have ordered Amtrak to take will immediately improve safety on this busy corridor."
Amtrak officials tell CBS 3: 'Amtrak's overarching goal is to provide safe and secure passenger rail travel. We immediately implemented the directives issued by the Federal Railroad Administration over the weekend, and will promptly initiate steps to implement the Emergency Order.'
