Let’s remember when an Amtrak passenger route derailed on its very first run, on this day in 2017 (December 18)
Everyone was excited for the new Point Defiance Bypass that would save some time for trips between Seattle and Portland on Amtrak. That was until they decided to take it out for a spin and the train was going way too fast.
From HistoryLink and Fred Poyner IV:
On December 18, 2017, Amtrak Cascades passenger train 501 derails near DuPont, Washington, on its inaugural run from Seattle to Portland on a newly built Point Defiance Bypass line. The crash involves the front locomotive, 10 passenger cars, a power railcar, a baggage railcar, and a rear locomotive. It takes place during the Monday morning rush hour on a curve in the track near Interstate 5. Three fatalities and numerous injuries result, with vehicles on the highway also involved. An investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determines that the train’s excessive speed — nearly 80 mph on a curve with a speed limit of 30 mph — is the primary cause of the derailment.
The Point Defiance Bypass line was constructed from 2010 and 2017 at a cost of $181 million. It shortened the distance from Tacoma to points south by following Interstate 5, rather than using the old Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) mainline that runs along the Puget Sound shoreline between Tacoma and Nisqually. The Point Defiance Bypass project was jointly managed by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and the Oregon Department of Transportation, with Amtrak the designated train operator.
On its inaugural run out of Seattle on December 18, 2017, Train №51 carried 77 passengers and five Amtrak crew members, with one additional train technician from the Talgo company on board.
At 7:33 a.m., the southbound train derailed at a curve while approaching a railroad bridge across southbound Interstate 5 near Mounts Road. All 12 of the train’s cars derailed along with the lead Siemens Charger locomotive. Six passenger cars and the lead locomotive fell onto Interstate 5, damaging eight vehicles including two semi-trucks. The devastation covered a broad area: one passenger carriage dangled from the bridge, while others were strewn across the freeway and the wooded area next to the elevated track. Southbound traffic on Interstate 5, which had been at the peak morning commute time, came to a standstill. Spread over the crash site were 350 gallons of spilled diesel fuel from the lead locomotive’s fuel tanks.
Source:
