Tag Archives: Amtrak

Amtrak Train Derails Near Seattle [VIDEO]

NBC News reports: An Amtrak train derailed on Monday morning, blocking southbound lanes of a highway near Tacoma, Washington. Washington State Department of Transportation tweeted a picture of the derailment at 7:45 a.m. PST, showing what appeared to be a car on its side over a highway lane. “All SB lanes of I-5 blocked near Mounts Road in Pierce County …

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PENNSYLVANIA: Engineer In Fatal 2015 Amtrak Crash Charged With Eight Counts Of Involuntary Manslaughter

The Associated Press reports: The state’s top prosecutor on Friday charged a speeding Amtrak engineer with causing a catastrophe, involuntary manslaughter and other crimes in a deadly 2015 derailment that came after he accelerated to 106 mph on a 50 mph curve. Prosecutors said they were in talks with engineer Brandon Bostian’s attorney to have him surrender on the charges. …

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How Not To Pronounce “Acela” [VIDEO]

Via Mediaite: Tuesday’s primaries in five Northeastern states was nicknamed “the Acela primary” by pundits, a reference to Amtrak’s Acela Express train that spans from D.C. to Boston. But local news anchors struggled to pronounce the high-speed rail service’s name. Bloomberg Politics created a humorous mash-up of all the anchors who tripped over the word (which is supposed to be …

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Conductor Sues Amtrak Over Philly Crash

Via NBC News: One of the conductors aboard the Amtrak train that derailed last week in Philadelphia has sued the rail carrier. Emilio Fonseca, of Kearny, New Jersey, filed the lawsuit Monday in Newark. It seeks unspecified damages. The complaint accuses Amtrak of “negligence and carelessness” in the May 12 derailment that killed eight people and injured more than 200. …

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Amtrak Resumes NYC-Philly Service

Via the New York Times: Amtrak trains began rolling on the busy Northeast Corridor early Monday, the first time in almost a week following a deadly crash in Philadelphia, and officials vowed to have safer trains and tracks while investigators worked to determine the cause of the derailment. Amtrak resumed service along the corridor with a 5:30 a.m. southbound train …

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NTSB Asks FBI To Investigate Whether Amtrak Crash Train Was Hit By Bullet

Via the Hill: An Amtrak train that crashed outside of Philadelphia this week may have been the target of an attack. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said on Friday that the FBI had been called in to investigate the possibility that the train was hit by a bullet or some other object. According to the NTSB, an assistant conductor …

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Airlines Accused Of Price Gouging As Amtrak Continues Service Suspension

Via the New York Times: A check of Delta Air Lines fares at La Guardia Airport at 10 a.m. on Thursday found that a ticket on the 12:30 p.m. shuttle to Washington could be found — for $2,309. But a ticket on the noon shuttle cost $554. Even under ordinary circumstances, airfares can seem something of a mystery, but veteran …

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Sandy Rios: Engineer’s Homosexuality Was A Factor In The Amtrak Train Crash

RELATED: World Net Daily is calling the engineer a “noted ‘gay’ rights activist.” Noted, as in none of us ever heard of him until yesterday.

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Amtrak Crash Engineer Is Openly Gay

Teabagistan is ablaze tonight after the engineer of the Amtrak train that crashed in Philadelphia was identified as Brandon Bostian, an openly gay man who campaigned against Prop 8 while living in San Francisco and for gay marriage after moving to New York. Via Heavy: Brandon Bostian, 32, has been an engineer for Amtrak since December 2010, according to his …

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REPORT: Amtrak Train Was Traveling Twice Speed Limit At Time Of Crash

Via the Wall Street Journal: An Amtrak train involved in a fatal crash here appears to have been traveling at more than 100 miles an hour as it entered a sharp curve where it derailed Tuesday night, killing at least six people, according to two people with knowledge of the investigation. The speed limit in that section of track drops …

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Update On Amtrak Derailment

It’s ten hours later and transit officials have not yet announced a cause for last night’s Amtrak disaster in Philadelphia, which has claimed six lives at this writing. The crash occurred where the track curves through the Port Richmond neighborhood and it’s the site of a 1943 train crash that killed 79 passengers. That crash remains one of the deadliest …

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Amtrak Train Derails In Philadelphia

A New York City-bound ten-car Amtrak train out of Washington DC derailed tonight in the Port Richmond neighborhood of Philadelphia. On board was former US Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-PA), who is assisting the injured. No fatalities are being reported at this writing. The top photo above was taken by Murphy, who estimates that the train was “traveling 60-70 mph” at …

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Another Passenger Train Derailment

Via Raleigh’s CBS affiliate: An Amtrak train derailed Monday in Halifax County at the intersection of U.S. Highway 301 and N.C. Highway 903. The Daily Herald in Roanoke Rapids reported that the train collided with a transfer truck, and the train’s engine was on its side. The other cars remained upright. Charlotte Story, a student at the University of North …

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Rail Service Suspended Indefinitely After Metro-North Commuter Train Crash

Commuters may face weeks of difficulty in getting to New York City after Friday’s train collision, which left dozens injured. Metro-North’s New Haven Line service east of Fairfield — and Amtrak’s service between New York and Boston — was suspended in the wake of the crash, and authorities said it could take two weeks or more before service resumes. The …

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1000+ Flights Canceled For Blizzard

This afternoon major airlines announced the cancellation of over 1000 flights in advance of the arrival of tomorrow’s nor’easter. Already, as of 2:45 p.m. ET on Thursday, more than 1,000 U.S. flights have been canceled for Friday, according to FlightAware. The bulk of that total comes at Northeast airports that are likely to see severe weather. Among those is Newark …

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Amtrak Tests 165 MPH Trains

Amtrak says that last night it began testing trains at 165mph on the northeast corridor. Two test locations — from Perryville, Md., to Wilmington, Del., and from Trenton to New Brunswick, N.J. — currently have a speed limit of 135 mph. The two others — in Rhode Island from Westerly to Cranston and in Massachusetts from South Attleboro to Readville …

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Ride The Gay-Friendly Rails

(Via Towleroad)

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SATURDAY: Mooning Amtrak Day

Saturday is the annual Mooning of the Amtrak. Train passengers can expect an eyeful Saturday as bare bottoms converge along the tracks at Camino Capistrano for the annual Mooning of the Amtrak. In recent years, the rowdy atmosphere surrounding the event has quieted down with an increased police presence, parking restrictions and ordinances against urination, defecation and drinking alcohol in …

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Afternoon View – Penn Station Amtrak

Milling about, milling about, milling about. Track number announcement. Mad dash for the gate where 500 people try to fit through a four-foot doorway at the same time. Always a shining moment for modern mass transit, truly.

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Northeast To Benefit From FL Gov. Rick Scott’s Rejection Of Rail Money

After Florida Gov. Rick Scott rejected billions in federal funding for high speed rail development, the feds invited other states to apply for the money. And as it turns out, the primary beneficiaries of Scott’s short-sightedness will be commuters on Amtrak’s northeast rail corridor. The largest share of the money—nearly $800 million—will be used to upgrade train speeds from 135 …

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