Fatal Amtrak crash in Philadelphia comes on eve of budget-cutting markup

[octoberlib]

An Amtrak train from D.C. to New York City derailed Tuesday night in Philadelphia, killing at least five people and injuring dozens — on the eve of a House markup of a bill that would slash the passenger rail service’s budget.
Former Philadelphia-area Democratic Rep. Patrick Murphy was on the train during the crash and tweeted that he had been helping others who were on board. Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) had also been on the train but got off in Wilmington shortly before the derailment, according to his staff.



Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter told reporters that at least five people had died. “This is a preliminary estimate,” he said, adding that the train’s seven cars, including the engine, “are in various stages of disarray turned over upside-down on their side.”



The accident comes on the eve of a House Appropriations markup for a fiscal 2016 bill that funds, among other things, Amtrak. The version approved earlier by an appropriations subcommittee contains language that would slash Amtrak’s funding to $1.13 billion, less than the roughly $1.4 billion it typically receives annually.

Democrats had already been expected to take a run at boosting the bill’s funding for Amtrak, but the debate at Wednesday’s markup is sure to take on more urgency in light of the crash, pictures of which posted to Twitter show mangled train car debris strewn across a darkened field. It may also stoke the debate over delays in implementing an anti-collision technology known as Positive Train Control.












Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/05/amtrak-crash-in-philly-comes-on-eve-of-budget-cutting-markup-117885.html#ixzz3Zzfdpo4S

[BumRushDaShow]

1. I know alot of people talk about "bullet trains"

but there is no way in hell, short of building brand new track, to really have a bullet train run effectively on the old piece of broken down Northeast corridor tracks. There's crumbling bridge overpasses, too much track-sharing with Regional lines, and alot of Conrail boxcar track sharing as well. I know Amtrak has it "Acela" service that does express trips to the major stops averaging 65 mph, but yikes. I have ridden those trains for years and years - whether down to D.C. or all the way up to Boston, and there's just no way.

[octoberlib]

2. Thanks for your input. I'm aware of the bad conditions of some major highways and

bridges. Train tracks , not so much. I'm very interested in finding out what caused this.

[BumRushDaShow]

8. I think over the years

you have train track beds that have eroded from severe weather events (e.g., flooding, heavy snow that melts, etc), and these have to be maintained continually.

Last night, I had mentioned a similar accident (with worse consequences) here in Philly near the same spot some 72 years ago (1943). The major media did pick up that history and reported about it this morning...



That Frankford Junction area is almost as congested as another one not too far away - Wayne Junction - these places being where a number of train lines cross and/or split off (local/regional rail, Amtrak, and boxcars like CSX), and you have track-switching going on.

[Art_from_Ark]

5. Japanese bullet trains all run on dedicated tracks

that are on embankments high above the surrounding ground to prevent any kind of collision with other trains or land-based vehicles.

[BumRushDaShow]

9. Exactly. And no one wants to invest in the cost

to do something like that over here on the east coast nor can they even fathom space to do such through congested cities, or reconcile right-of-way/easement/eminent domain to put dedicated track in - unless they actually just take over I95 and put something like that the length, elevated right over the top of the cars (or maybe underground).

[alarimer]

3. Republicans are just going to say we need more privatization, not more government spending

They will insist that the free market will take care of all these issues.

Of course it isn't true, because what is true is that Amtrak and other programs have been starved of funding to the point where safety suffers.

[octoberlib]

4. Yep, I agree.

[AngryOldDem]

6. Correct.

I heard that this is the ninth Amtrak accident this year? Is anyone surprised?

The money can be found for infrastructure. Frame it as a national security issue, if that will be what it takes to wake up the morons in Congress.

Highways are just as bad. We can't continue to ignore this for very much longer.

[NuclearDem]

7. Amtrak is essentially the entire reason interstate passenger rail still exists.

The whole reason it exists is because Pullman and Penn Central were on the verge of going under.

[BumRushDaShow]

10. Don't forget Reading RR too

eventually rolled into Conrail... I was actually in elementary school using a Penn Central line to get to school (no yellow school bus ever offered to me to go to school. )