Federal investigators probe Amtrak train accident in Vermont

The preliminary cause of the accident was a rockslide that left debris in the train’s path, the FRA said.

Passengers helped others out after the crash. Amtrak thanks the emergency responders and the communities for their assistance. However, the train derailment happened just as the fire trucks were about to leave the station and as a result, they were able to fix to the train derailment south of the Harlow Bridge within minutes of the tragedy occurring. The train, the Vermonter, was headed from Vermont…

Passenger Bob Redmond, of Bay City, Michigan, was taking a foliage tour when the train derailed. The train, the Vermonter, was headed from Vermont to Washington, DC when it apparently struck rocks that were on the tracks. Shumlin also said inspectors check for problems on the tracks at least twice per week. The hospital is treating six patients in its emergency department, he said, and none has life-threatening injuries.

One of the victims, a crew member, was seriously hurt and airlifted to a hospital.

“This was the farthest thing from my mind”, Brown said. Six others were transported to the emergency room after the derailment.

“This was a freak of nature, ” Governor Peter Shumlin said. A staging area was set up by Gillespie’s garage on Stony Brook Road where fire trucks and ambulances could be ready whenever they were needed. Amtrak service resumed Tuesday, with passengers boarding buses for travel between Vermont and Springfield, Massachusetts.

Virtually no rail carrier will meet the current deadline, and Congress is considering legislation that would extend it another three years. Although outdated technology may have played a role in the Philadelphia derailment, such does not appear to be the case in the Vermont derailment – Amtrak officials say that stretch of track had recently been rebuilt and was “state of the art”.

(Cathy Bell/Courtesy of Brian Bell via AP).

A total of five cars derailed, Eggleston said, and three went down a steep slope. Two other passenger cars are completely off of the tracks; a third auto is sitting diagonally across the tracks; while the remaining cars are safely on the tracks.

98 passengers and four crew members were on the 55 Vermonter when it derailed, cutting off all services north of Springfield. At least two cars, according to CNN, derailed from the track and slid down an embankment.

Green Mountain Hazardous Material, Vermont State Police Mobile Command Center and Colchester Technical Rescue were on the scene as well. No diesel sheen was found by HazMat crews on Bull Run Road nearby.

P.Z. Matthews, a former Norwich University student, described the crash as feeling like “really bad airplane turbulence”. He said he had boarded the train about 15 minutes before the incident. Four hospitalized people were released by Monday evening, Amtrak said. The bus will pick up passengers at the train stops. He said passengers told him the train wasn’t speeding when it hit the fallen rock ledge.