Passenger describes train ride just before deadly derailment
Dec 18, 2017, 10:34 AM | Updated: 10:40 am
An Amtrak train derailed near Dupont Monday morning. (Washington State Patrol)
(Washington State Patrol)
Chris Karnes, chair of Pierce Transit’s Community Transportation Advisory Group, tweeted about his experience on a new high-speed train in the minutes leading up to the deadly crash in Pierce County.
RELATED: Deadly train derailment in Pierce County
Wow this train is fast. Once you leave Downtown Tacoma it’s 79mph to Portland. We are passing up traffic on I-5.
— Chris Karnes 🌹 (@TacomaTransit) December 18, 2017
Tacoma to Dupont in roughly 15 minutes.
— Chris Karnes 🌹 (@TacomaTransit) December 18, 2017
The train hit a truck apparently. I am fine, but the train is destroyed.
— Chris Karnes 🌹 (@TacomaTransit) December 18, 2017
The train has derailed. Emergency crews are on the scene. Massive damage. People are hurt. pic.twitter.com/f62gjUrZN1
— Chris Karnes 🌹 (@TacomaTransit) December 18, 2017
The train, which was part of a new route called the Point Defiance Bypass Project that began service Monday, had passed by Dupont when it “started to wobble at little bit.”
“… and the next thing that we knew we were down in a ditch,” he told MSNBC.
According to data from Amtrak, the train, which was heading southbound from Seattle, was traveling at 81 mph as it was heading into a curve before crossing I-5. The train derailed while traveling on an I-5 overpass.
