The Amtrak train that derailed here Tuesday night was traveling 106 mph, more than twice the authorized speed, as it approached a sharp bend in the tracks, the National Transportation Safety Board said Wednesday.
The engineer applied the emergency brakes, but the action was too late. The train was still moving at 102 mph when it hit the curve about three seconds later and the engine and all seven cars derailed.
“It takes a long time to decelerate a train,” NTSB board member Robert Sumwalt said. “You’re supposed to enter the curve at 50 miles per hour.”
The derailment of the Washington-to-New York train killed seven people, injured more than 200 and disrupted service in the busiest passenger rail corridor in the country.
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