Amtrak CEO Calls Fatal Derailment A 'Wake-Up Call'
By Madison Park and Holly Yan, CNN
(CNN) -- Amtrak's co-CEO apologized profusely for the high-speed train derailment that hurled passenger cars onto a freeway, killing three people and injuring 100.
"It's not acceptable that we are involved in these kinds of accidents. We are terribly sorry to the people that are involved," Richard Anderson said.
The passenger train derailed Monday after careening around a curve at almost three times the speed limit. It's still unclear why the train was traveling 80 mph in a 30-mph zone, said National Transportation Safety Board member Bella Dinh-Zarr.
Adding to the dismay: positive train control, the technology that can automatically slow down a speeding train, wasn't activated.
Instead, that segment of tracks in DuPont, Washington, had centralized traffic control (CTC), Dinh-Zarr said.
"CTC cannot enforce speed restrictions on a train like PTC can," she said. "The locomotive was in the process of getting a system of PTC installed but it was not yet functional."
Now, both victims' families and officials are perplexed about why the tragedy happened.
"There are a thousand unanswered questions about this right now," said Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, referring to the accident. "One of the questions is, could that speed control have made a difference? We don't know that for sure at the moment either."
The-CNN-Wire
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