Two Amtrak personnel were killed and over 100 others were injured when an Amtrak passenger train collided with a parked CSX freight train early Sunday just outside the capital of South Carolina, officials said.

The South Carolina Emergency Management Division said Amtrak 91 was traveling from New York to Miami when it collided with the CSX train in Cayce around 2:35 a.m.

"We have anywhere from scratches and bumps to more severe broken bones," Lexington County spokesman Harrison Cahill told reporters.

Amtrak said in a statement the train's lead engine derailed, as did some passenger cars that was carrying eight crew members and approximately 139 passengers on board. TV footage from the crash scene showed the aftermath of the collision, with the Amtrak engine on its side and its front crumpled.

South Carolina Gov. said the two people killed in the crash were Amtrak personnel and 116 people were taken to area hospitals.

"We've been to the scene and I would ask this is a Sunday, everyone go to church and say a prayer for these people involved," he told reporters.

McMaster said the first engine of the freight train was "torn up," while the engine on the Amtrak train is "barely recognizable." The governor added that no one was on the CSX train at the time of teh crash, and the Amtrak train was estimated to be going 59 mph.

"Two trains, that's as forceful as can get," he told reporters.

Hospital officials told Fox News they have received nearly 90 patients from the crash, but most of which have been discharged already. Lexington Medical Center spokeswoman Jennifer Wilson said the facility received 27 patients from the crash, all of which had "minor injuries" and since been discharged.

A spokesperson from Palmetto Health said they received 62 patients as a result of the crash at three of their facilities. The health care network said there are two patients that are expected to be admitted, but most are expected to be released after they are evaluated and treated.

"The thoughts of all our team members are with the family and friends of those injured in this accident," Palmetto Health spokesperson Tammie Epps said. "Palmetto Health is coordinating with local authorities, Amtrak and the American Red Cross to assist these families in any way possible."

No immediate information was available about the CSX train, but SCMED Public Information Officer Derrec Becker told reporters that officials are working to secure a fuel leak that resulted from the spill.

As of now, 5,000 gallons of diesel fuel has spilled and crews are trying to secure the leak, according to Becker.

"There is no danger to anyone in the nearby area of Lexington County," Becker told "FOX & friends Weekend."

The crash happened near a stretch of tracks by a rail yard about 10 miles south of Columbia, where several track spurs split off for freight cars to be unloaded.

Authorities said they haven't determined if both trains were moving or if the Amtrak train was diverted on to a side track.

"It appears to me that the CSX was on the track it was supposed to be on, a switch track," the governor said. "They weren't supposed to be meeting like that, that's what it appears to me."


http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018...juries-reported.html

quote:

Originally posted by olfuzzy:
... an Amtrak passenger train collided with a parked CSX freight train early Sunday ...

Authorities said they haven't determined if both trains were moving or if the Amtrak train was diverted on to a side track.

So which is it?

quote:

Originally posted by olfuzzy:
"It appears to me that the CSX was on the track it was supposed to be on, a switch track," the governor said. "They weren't supposed to be meeting like that, that's what it appears to me."

You think?

flashguy

quote:

Originally posted by flashguy:

quote:

Originally posted by olfuzzy:
"It appears to me that the CSX was on the track it was supposed to be on, a switch track," the governor said. "They weren't supposed to be meeting like that, that's what it appears to me."

You think?

flashguy

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the fine Gov. Henry "McDisaster"....which is no reference to the current Amtrak collision.

You think Steven King will tweet out celebrations over this one?

Our public rail transportation system is inferior to China's. They have high speed rail - and those of us who travel there say new routes need to be proven out before taking them because there have been some train collisions due to improper rail switching, probably related to software glitches.

Now here, multiple crashes in a few months caused by incompetence. Can the US gov't manage anything properly?

quote:

Originally posted by Lefty Sig:
Our public rail transportation system is inferior to China's. They have high speed rail - and those of us who travel there say new routes need to be proven out before taking them because there have been some train collisions due to improper rail switching, probably related to software glitches.

Now here, multiple crashes in a few months caused by incompetence. Can the US gov't manage anything properly?

The main difference being most of our passanger traffic shares the rails with freight (that is what pays the bills)...but it's always been that way...what's changed is the fact that personal responsibility has flown the coop...I will be surprised if they hold the train crew responsible (not enough info out as of now to make a call)...I'm sure it will be a thousand reasons OTHER than an engineer running a red board (signal to stop) or missing a signal (approach diverging) because he was preoccupied with something else .

I think back to 2006, when I rode Amtrak from Va (Hi Line) to Seattle , down to LA, through AZ, NM, Co, back to Chicago, DC, and chugged home.

Thankful I made it, but the only delays more than 10 minutes, happened in California.

Not sure I would ride Amtrak now.

quote:

Originally posted by Bisleyblackhawk:

quote:

Originally posted by Lefty Sig:
Our public rail transportation system is inferior to China's. They have high speed rail - and those of us who travel there say new routes need to be proven out before taking them because there have been some train collisions due to improper rail switching, probably related to software glitches.

Now here, multiple crashes in a few months caused by incompetence. Can the US gov't manage anything properly?

The main difference being most of our passanger traffic shares the rails with freight (that is what pays the bills)...but it's always been that way...what's changed is the fact that personal responsibility has flown the coop...I will be surprised if they hold the train crew responsible (not enough info out as of now to make a call)...I'm sure it will be a thousand reasons OTHER than an engineer running a red board (signal to stop) or missing a signal (approach diverging) because he was preoccupied with something else .

You can hold the train crew responsible all you want, but the report said there were two fatalities. Given the condition of the Amtrak engine, the two deaths are probably the engine crew. Nobody left alive to blame, which means they probably will blame it on the engine crew.

Just saw another report that a switch was in the wrong position. That wouldn’t be the Amtrak crew’s fault, but the ground crew, no? That would put this on CSX.

I've been kinda following this today. Looks like the CSX freight trained backed onto the siding and the crew left. Somehow the switch never was switched back. The passenger train ran onto the siding at about 60 mph.

quote:

Originally posted by sigcrazy7:
Just saw another report that a switch was in the wrong position. That wouldn’t be the Amtrak crew’s fault, but the ground crew, no? That would put this on CSX.

I'll promise you this (after 30+ years of railroading)...the Amtrak crew may not have been responsible (missed signal?) but my educated guess is that someone in the food chain didn't do their job...I'm sure the blame will be on the failure of technology somewhere not the train crew or the control center employees that monitor the switch signals on the panels...too much is made on technology over human eyes...you don't want to kick that government cash cow in the udder or blame a human being (shudder)...a misaligned switch onto a siding will show up as a red board (stop) as well as on the control board in the control center...

I'm too old school I guess.

quote:

Originally posted by 08 Cayenne:
I've been kinda following this today. Looks like the CSX freight trained backed onto the siding and the crew left. Somehow the switch never was switched back. The passenger train ran onto the siding at about 60 mph.

We had a similar fatal (2 crew dead) here about ten years ago, both were freight trains, not AMTRAK.

http://qconline.com/news/local...b8-16310e546ba5.html

quote:

Originally posted by Bisleyblackhawk:

quote:

Originally posted by sigcrazy7:
Just saw another report that a switch was in the wrong position. That wouldn’t be the Amtrak crew’s fault, but the ground crew, no? That would put this on CSX.

I'll promise you this (after 30+ years of railroading)...the Amtrak crew may not have been responsible (missed signal?) but my educated guess is that someone in the food chain didn't do their job...I'm sure the blame will be on the failure of technology somewhere not the train crew or the control center employees that monitor the switch signals on the panels...too much is made on technology over human eyes...you don't want to kick that government cash cow in the udder or blame a human being (shudder)...a misaligned switch onto a siding will show up as a red board (stop) as well as on the control board in the control center...

I'm too old school I guess.

I’m with BB. Even if the switch were in the wrong position (lined for the siding) the signal system should have alerted the Amtrak crew of this and indicated a red signal. My sneaking suspicion is that the crew was distracted/preoccupied and missed the signal. Seems CSX hasn’t initiated PTC (positive train control) on this stretch of their track either. In theory, with working PTC this would not be able to happen.

quote:

Originally posted by SigM4:

quote:

Originally posted by Bisleyblackhawk:

quote:

Originally posted by sigcrazy7:
Just saw another report that a switch was in the wrong position. That wouldn’t be the Amtrak crew’s fault, but the ground crew, no? That would put this on CSX.

I'll promise you this (after 30+ years of railroading)...the Amtrak crew may not have been responsible (missed signal?) but my educated guess is that someone in the food chain didn't do their job...I'm sure the blame will be on the failure of technology somewhere not the train crew or the control center employees that monitor the switch signals on the panels...too much is made on technology over human eyes...you don't want to kick that government cash cow in the udder or blame a human being (shudder)...a misaligned switch onto a siding will show up as a red board (stop) as well as on the control board in the control center...

I'm too old school I guess.

I’m with BB. Even if the switch were in the wrong position (lined for the siding) the signal system should have alerted the Amtrak crew of this and indicated a red signal. My sneaking suspicion is that the crew was distracted/preoccupied and missed the signal. Seems CSX hasn’t initiated PTC (positive train control) on this stretch of their track either. In theory, with working PTC this would not be able to happen.

Makes you wonder how we managed since the 1830’s without all the technology, when clerks tracked consists with note cards and filing cabinets, and all track control was manual.

I agree with Bisleyblackhawk. Technology is no substitute for humans paying attention and doing their jobs. Even when I was young, N&W (the family biz) had five man train crews. Now they run two. It was probably helpful to have more eyes on the job.

To be fair, train wrecks aren’t a recent phenomenon. We just hear about every one now. My Dad worked with a guy who was on his final trip before retiring, had a derailment on a bridge and was killed. Three hours from retiring. Somewhere in West Virginia, IIRC.

quote:

"They weren't supposed to be meeting like that, that's what it appears to me."

That's our governor.... same man when he was the AG and it was pointed out that a city law forbidding concealed carry in a park was a violation of state law said the way to solve it was for the courts to decided once someone was arrested. Then a few years later when he first was running for Governor and a school district tried to circumvent state law he took a 180 turn.