Report: Officials expedited new rail line to capture federal money
Dec 20, 2017, 7:58 AM | Updated: 10:38 am
Seats are jammed together with other debris on an upside-down Amtrak train car sitting on a flat bed trailer taken from the scene of Monday's deadly crash. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
(AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
The new rail line connected to Monday’s deadly train derailment opened much earlier than originally planned, and before a key safety system was operational.
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State transportation officials originally planned to have the corridor refurbished in 2019, but in order to get federal stimulus money for the project, construction had to be done by mid-2017. So officials set a new deadline.
The Seattle Times uncovered documents from 2016, where Sound Transit described the project as being under a “very aggressive schedule” and that even a one-month delay would have impacts. Other officials had previously said they expected the train’s safety system — Positive Train Control — to be operational before the new line started.
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Instead, it met that more aggressive deadline and started running several months before Sound Transit planned to have the safety system operational.
The train was traveling at approximately 80 mph Monday morning as it entered a curve that should have been taken at about 30 mph, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. The majority of the train cars derailed, killing three and injuring more than 70.
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