NTSB says Chicago commuter train was speeding

[Gunit_Sangh]

CHICAGO (AP) — A commuter train was going almost 60 mph above the speed limit just before it derailed, killing two people and injuring dozens, the acting chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board said Sunday.

Mark Rosenker said the Metra train was traveling at 69 mph and should not have been going faster than 10 mph when it switched tracks at a crossover just before jumping the tracks Saturday.

<snip>
Part of the investigation included an interview Sunday with the train's engineer, Rosenker. The 41-year-old man had been on the job for 45 days after completing Metra's six-month training program, which included at least some training along the route where the derailment occurred. He also had worked for more than five years as a CSX Corp. freight train engineer.

Rest of story

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-09-18-chicago-train_x.htm

[Rich Hunt]

1. that makes no sense

Were the driver doing that, lots of people would have taken notice long
before the accident.

I don't see how that's possible, given that there are lots of stops on the south side.

Sounds like a bunch of garbage. I've been on that train, and I don't think I've ever witnessed a driver going anywhere near that fast, unless something was wrong with the equipment or the guy did it intentionally.

There were witness interviews in the paper, and they did not say that anything was out of the ordinary. I guarantee you, if the train was going that fast, they would have noticed and they would have been alarmed by it. But by all accounts, the derailment took them by surprise.

[TheCowsCameHome]

4. What's to stop a train from going 69mph in a 10mph zone? NOTHING.

No one riding on the train would know a thing was wrong until the train went into the 10mph crossovers. By then it's too late.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

5. If it were going 69, the damage would be far greater

tumbling cars, more damage and far more fatalities.

[Rich Hunt]

6. two co-workers were on this train...

They are recovering right now.

I guess I'll find out from them what happened - as soon as they return.

I heard they were in the same car where the fatalities were.

[mockmonkey]

2. History repeats itself?

From the same article : "A similar derailment occurred on the same stretch of track in 2003, injuring about 45 people. A preliminary NTSB report found that the train was going almost 70 mph at the location where it was supposed to switch from one track to the other."

[Rich Hunt]

3. hmmmm ...

sounds suspicious.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

7. most recent update

machinery was fine. signals appear to be working. and mr. driver was young, alert and finished his training a few months earlier. the feds ran several tests of that slice of track for a few hours.

nothing will be known for a year or two. seriously.