Crash train took bend ‘at 50mph over limit’

A PASSENGER train that derailed near Seattle, killing three people, was going at 50mph over the speed limit, it emerged yesterday.

The train plunged off a bridge in Dupont city, Washington state, on to a busy interstate motorway and led to 100 people being taken to hospital, 10 with serious injuries. A young British man was among the injured passengers. His passport became lost on the train during the crash.

State governor Jay Inslee, who visited a hospital where some of the victims were being treated, said: “We want to make sure we can get him home and I assured him we’ll take care of that.”

Safety inspectors will likely interview the train’s driver today after engine data revealed that the train was speeding. All of the train’s carriages have been searched and the death toll lowered from an earlier figure of six. However, authorities said they have not ruled out a rise in the total number of fatalities.

Passengers described the train rocking and creaking as it took the bend at speed before plummeting off a bridge on to a motorway packed with traffic. Seven vehicles, including two lorries, were hit on the I-5 highway below.

Despite multiple injuries none of the motorists were among the fatalities. The Amtrak passenger train crashed shortly after leaving a new station on its inaugural run of a high-speed route, part of a £135million investment.

There were 77 passengers and seven Amtrak crew members on board, as well as a train technician.

Bella Dinh-zarr, from the National Transportation Safety Board, said preliminary findings from the engine’s data suggested “that the train was travelling at 80mph on a 30mph track”.

Richard Anderson, Amtrak’s president, revealed that a safety system that can slow or stop a speeding train was not in use on this stretch of track.