SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Report: At least 6 dead after Amtrak train derails from bridge onto Interstate 5 near Olympia
Several people were killed Monday morning when an Amtrak train derailed and fell off a bridge over Interstate 5 near Mounts Road between Lakewood and Olympia. The Associated Press, citing an unnamed U.S. official, reported that at least six people were killed in the crash. Gov. Jay Inslee has called a state of emergency in response to the derailment.
Pierce County Sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer told news media that there were fatalities on the train and that motorists had been injured, but not killed. A total of 77 people were sent to hospitals in Pierce and Thurston counties, according to CHI Franciscan Health, which operates numerous hospitals in Western Washington. Four of the injured are "level red" patients, with critical injuries. The injured are being taken to St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma, St. Claire Hospital in Lakewood, St. Anthony Hospital in Gig Harbor and Tacoma General Hospital and Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia.
There were 78 passengers and five crew members on the train when it derailed, according to Amtrak.
The train was running on a new, faster service route using a new bypass. This was the first day that the new route was used.
Also at CNN. Amtrak statement about service disruption.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 19 2017, @07:24PM (1 child)
Passenger trains are allowed to go faster. I suppose they are lower, more balanced, more aerodynamic, and with better suspension.
(Score: 2) by kazzie on Wednesday December 20 2017, @01:51PM
In general, passenger trains are allowed to go faster than freight trains because they are lighter, can brake quicker, and do less damage to the railhead etc. as they pass over. (Hammer blow [wikipedia.org] was a major example in steam days. Diesel and electric vehicles still have similar issues, but to lesser extents.) The radius of a curve (how sharp a turn is) is independent of this: being a lighter vehicle doesn't mean you won't go flying off the rails.
Track can be canted (angled) around a curve to make it, effectively, a banked curve. The optimum angle of cant depends on the speed of the train. If the cant is set for a high speed passenger train, slow freight trains will wear against the lower rail. Likewise, if the cant is set for a low speed train, a high-speed passenger train will ride against the upper rail. Cant is therefore typically set somewhere in between, as a compromise.
Note that for passenger trains, passenger comfort becomes a limiting factor before cant and rail climbing/derailment. Hence the development of tilting trains such as the APT [wikipedia.org] and Pendolino for high-speed operation on old, curved alignments. [wikipedia.org]
In this example however, the image I posted earlier shows a speed limit sign with T-30 and P-30 on it. I've read elsewhere that these are speed limits for general Passenger trains and Talgo trains (the type derailed). Presumably freight would still be obeying a 30mph (or lower) speed limit from earlier on its journey. [vgy.me]