Washington Amtrak train going 80 mph in 30 mph zone, NTSB says

DUPONT, Wash. — The New York Times reports National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) officials on the scene found the Amtrak train bound from Seattle to Portland that crashed Monday was traveling at 80 miles per hour, on a stretch of track with a limit of 30 miles per hour, when it jumped the tracks and careened into I-5 and a stand of evergreens. At least three people were killed and about 100 were injured.

Train 501, carrying 77 passengers and seven crew members, derailed Monday morning on the inaugural run of a new route for Amtrak’s Cascades service. It was not clear how familiar the engineer was with that stretch of track, or whether that played a role in the crash. NTSB officials also reported that positive train control was not activated on the train.

NTSB Board Member Bella Dinh-Zarr describes lineup of Go-Team on way to Washington state Amtrak rail accident. pic.twitter.com/pRt0UvXto4

— NTSB_Newsroom (@NTSB_Newsroom) December 18, 2017

"We have recommended PTC for decades," NTSB's T. Bella Dinh-Zarr told CNN on Tuesday. "Unfortunately the deadline was moved farther into the future, and every year that we wait to implement PTC to its fullest extent means that more people will be killed and injured." For the full story, click here.

"I felt a lurch, and I had the thought: 'We're going off the tracks!' " Amtrak passenger Patricia Freeman tells @npratc of this morning's derailment in Washington state. https://t.co/fDFbvsh2x8 pic.twitter.com/HabfPx4hS1

— NPR (@NPR) December 19, 2017