WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The damage caused by the Amtrak train crash in Philadelphia on May 12 exceeds $9.2 million, US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) stated in a preliminary report on Tuesday.
“Damage is estimated by Amtrak in excess of $9.2 million,” the report said.
On May 12, Amtrak train en route from Washington, DC to New York City sped up to 106 mph through a curve with a 50 mph speed limit and derailed. According to investigators, the engineer hit the train's emergency brake just seconds before it hit the curve.
The NTSB said that of the 250 passengers and eight Amtrak employees on board, eight passengers were killed and more than 200 others were taken to area hospitals.
In May, the US Federal Railroad Administration announced that Amtrak train service would now have to install an automated speed limit control system on all of its Northeast Corridor trains as a way to enforce speed restrictions.
Amtrak is a US government funded railroad service, operated and managed as a for-profit corporation that provides intercity passenger train service within the United States. Solely in its Northeast Corridor, Amtrak operates more than 2,200 trains daily.
