quote:

---

Service Alert: Empire Builder derailment in southern Washington State
April 3, 2005 6:30 p.m. EDT
Media Contact:  1-800-562-1904 


WASHINGTON, D.C. – Approximately 100 of the passengers and crewmembers from the derailment of the Empire Builder, train #27, traveling from Spokane to Portland have been provided alternate transportation to their destinations. 


Approximately 15 other passengers are receiving medical attention at local hospitals for minor injuries, ranging from cuts to a fractured wrist. Amtrak will provide alternate transportation for these passengers once they are ready to continue travel to their destinations. Amtrak customer care teams continue to remain on site with passengers to make sure their needs are being met. 


While the investigation into the derailment continues, the route between Spokane and Portland is closed to train traffic. Passengers with reservations on trains 27 and 28 for Sunday and Monday will be contacted by an Amtrak reservation agent regarding alternate transportation. Passengers may also call 1-800-USA-RAIL to check train status and get the latest updates regarding their reservations. 


At approximately 9:30 PDT, the Portland section of Amtrak's westbound Empire Builder, train #27, operating from Chicago to Portland, Ore. via Spokane, Wash., derailed in Home Valley, Washington (approx. 20 miles west of the Bingen-White Salmon, Wash. train station). 


Train #27 is the Spokane-Portland section of the daily Empire Builder that operates between Chicago and Portland/Seattle. The train involved departed Chicago April 1 and split off from the Seattle section of the train, as it normally does, at Spokane. 


The train consists of one locomotive and four cars, all of which have derailed. The locomotive remains partially on the tracks while all the cars are upright against an embankment adjacent to the train tracks. 


There were approximately 115 passengers and crewmembers on board. Mostly minor injuries have been reported.  


The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has dispatched a team to the location to lead the investigation into the cause of the derailment. All inquiries regarding the cause of the derailment should be directed to the NTSB. 


Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad (BNSF), which owns, operates and maintains the tracks in this area, has also dispatched a team to the scene. 


Family members inquiring about passengers should call 1-800-523-9101. 


Media Inquiries should be directed to 1-800-562-1904.

---

quote:

---

The only thing the news didn't have is Mineta's explanation of how 115 people could have been on a "train that no one rides"...

---

ROTFLOL!

I don't suppose news of a "train wreck" is necessarily the best thing to be sending to Mineta in the name of supporting Amtrak, but that number really does drive our point home, now doesn't it!
 

---

Posted by TwinStarRocket (Member # 2142) on :
 
Mike Smith: 'The only thing the news didn't have is Mineta's explanation of how 115 people could have been on a "train that no one rides"...'

You foamers always skew your facts to further your anti-Mineta agenda. This was only the Portland section, therefore only half of the "empty train through Montana that no one rides". If you divide the actual number of people on the entire train (0), by the alleged 115 on half of it, you still get zero. And it does not prove that Seattle is not a "city no one wants to go to".

For the federal sudsidy it took to finance this empty train we could buy each one of these 115 people a susidized plane ticket to the city they do not want to go to. Then if they decide they do not want to be forced to fly to the city they do not want to go to, it will save the taxpayers all the money we pay to subsidize flights to these cities no one wants to go to.

I am not advocating killing off the airlines. All that is needed to kill off the airlines is to do nothing.
 

---

Posted by travelplus (Member # 3679) on :
 
Very sad to have another Superliner wrecked. But luckily no fatalities. Now ask Bush if this were a Boeing 757 would any passengers live? This is amazing to see people reuniting with their loved ones. A very positive experience despite some inuuries. It could have been a lot worse.

Thank you Bombardier who makes Superliners they do a damn good job in making the cars strong. And it couldn't have happened in a better location as the news crew said if it had happened earlier it would have landed in the river. Luckily there was no fire and the fire crews used ladders to remove the passengers. Only two stories so much eaiser than a 25 story hotel.

Way to go Amtrak and the rest of the team!!!

One more reason to ride Amtrak as the crew was calming the passengers and helping them. And it looks like everyone will get their bags unlike an air accident. Safer than going in a car. Amazing how one gets killed in a car but not in this situation.
 

---

Posted by CoastStarlight99 (Member # 2734) on :
 
Yes, I like the video to, I had seen it earlie from that website and the pictures are even better.

Travelplus, this derailment was LUCKY...strong Superliners could not have made a difference in an accident this serious. The train only had 115 people on it, if it was full it could have had alot more and there most likely would have been fatalities.

In the video a man did say that if somebody were sitting infront of him they would have been dead.

And actually, Bombardier is in the aerospace industry as well unfortunetly.
 

---

Posted by George Harris (Member # 2077) on :
 
Lets try a few facts here:

1. The superliners have the strength they do because the US FRA requires it, not because Bombardier chose it. Thank US safety regulations, not Bombardier for that. The cars are strong, far beyond the requirements in most of the rest of the world, but probably little stronger than American / Canadian coaches built anytime in the last 75 years. ANY railroad passenger car meeting US FRA strength and crashworthiness standards is the safest conveyence you can travel in. Remember, the CNO derailment in Mississippi took a car falling off a bridge to cause a fatality.

2. This deailment was not "Lucky" The cars did what they were supposed to do. Stay coupled and generally in line. I do not yet know the speed fo the derailment, but given the nature of this line it was probably fairly high, so this again shows the FRA standards working like they are suppossed to.

3. As railroad accidents go, this is really not that serious. Everything stayed in line and generally parallel to the direction of travel. 20 something injuries, few major, and no fatalities out of 115 people on board is indicitive of the relative lack of severity of the accident.

4. "...a man did say that if somebody were sitting in front of hime they would have been dead." On what basis? There is no means by which the credibility of this statement can be judged. Given the condition of the train post accident, I sincerely doubt it. The people most at risk would be those caught in the vestibule. Next would be those standing up. A person sitting down would be unlikely to be much worse than bruises and a few scrapes. People in accidents will almost always overstate the speed and magnitudes of movements, sometimes grossly, of the accident. There are extensive studies on this. In fact, in automobile accidents, even the police tend to overestimate the speed of collision based on their observation of the damage to the vehicles.

5. Someone speculated the cause was broken rail. At this point, there is no way it could possibly be determined from looking at the pictures. The obviously missing rail that shows up in the pictures by its absence could have been broken or displaced during the accident, and be a result of it not the cause. This is a good quality fairly heavily traveled high speed BNSF main line, and the Amtrak train in no way imparts the highest train forces to the track.

George
 

---