Andrewmc wrote:
80 mph. 1.25 miles per minute. From sign to curve 2 miles or 3 mins. If he was still flat out going in to curve its game over but elsewhere in the world brakes are triggered automatically if going faster than specific speed in to curve I think
There were supposed to be some sort of "positive train control" protocols the crews are supposed to follow. I'm curious to see if they did so on this train because, on the face of things, it appears they didn't. The trackage was brand new, as well, and controls and signals had been upgraded.
There was an Amtrak derailment several years ago, and a newspaper looking into it found lax enforcement of protocols by Amtrak. Also, that Amtrak had a habit of promoting from within when it came to engineers, moving people up into the position, such as former porters and stewards, who may not have been ideally suited for the job, even after training.
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