By Catherine Hilliard
News Editor
A federal directive issued from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) on Wednesday, April 6 confirmed that Amtrak’s rail agency failed to follow basic safety rules over the weekend, causing a fatal train crash that killed two people in Chester, Pennsylvania.
The train was carrying 341 people when it collided with a backhoe on the tracks near Philadelphia. Two construction workers performing routine maintenance on the track were killed, as well as 37 injured passengers were treated for minor injuries.
Director of the Railroad Engineering and Safety Program at the University of Delaware Allan Zarembski said that this crash, which involved a large piece of machinery on a live track, “should have never happened”.
Zarembski was surprised to learn that the construction workers repairing the track were Amtrak employees and not contractors, which he found to be “an even higher level of concern”.
The two construction workers had years of experience according to U.S. Rep. Robert Brady, who said that one had worked for Amtrak for 20 years, and the other for about 40.
The Delaware County Medical Examiner’s office identified the two constructions as Joseph Carter Jr., 61, of Wilmington, Delaware, and Peter John Adamovich, 59, of Lincoln University, Pennsylvania. Both victims died of multiple blunt force injuries.
“Both my parents work in Philadelphia and use the train for transportation to and from work. When I saw this, it got me thinking that this situation could have possibly happened to my parents, which is scary.” Charles Marone, a sophomore at Neshaminy High School stated.
The FRA highlighted concerns about failure to follow both federal regulations and Amtrak’s internal rules at the time of the crash, including regulations to prevent trains from traveling on tracks occupied by workers and their vehicles.
In a statement issued on Thursday, April 7, Amtrak CEO and President Joseph Boardman did not dispute the FRA directive and said the company would create a new “internal compliance program” to increase consistency in the protection of rail workers.
The FRA ordered Amtrak to require all railroad construction workers and their supervisors to review safety rules applicable to their jobs and to review the rules enforcing communication between rail workers, foremen and dispatchers. The administration also recommended that the rail agency conduct a safety review for all safety sensitive workers.
For more information:
• http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/in-transit/Feds-confirm-Amtrak-failed-to-follow-safety-rules-in-fatal-train-crash.html
• http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/04/us/amtrak-crash-philadelphia/
