An Amtrak train derailed just south of Philadelphia on Sunday morning, killing two Amtrak workers and injuring 30 people, authorities said.
The federally subsidized rail service suspended its routes between New York and Philadelphia after the crash. Service resumed Sunday afternoon on most of the line.
Train 89 was heading from New York to Savannah, Ga., when it hit a backhoe left on the tracks 15 miles south of Philadelphia in Chester, Pa., at about 8am, the Associated Press reported. The impact derailed the lead engine car of the train. Chester fire commissioner Travis Thomas said two people were killed.
Amtrak said in a statement that the train had 341 passengers on it. Officials said 30 people were taken to hospitals with injuries that were not life threatening.
New York Sen. Chuck Schumer told reporters at an unrelated news conference Sunday that Amtrak board chairman Anthony Coscia told him the two people killed were the backhoe operator and a supervisor. Both were Amtrak employees.
Schumer, a Democrat, said crash debris flew into the first two cars, injuring passengers.
“The car started shaking wildly, there was a smell of smoke, it looked like there was a small fire and then the window across from us blew out,” Ari Ne’eman, 28, of Silver Spring, Maryland, who was in the second car of the train, told the AP.
“It was a very frightening experience. I’m frankly very glad that I was not on the first car,” where injuries occurred, Newman said. “The moment that the car stopped, I said the Shema, a Jewish prayer.”
Schumer said Amtrak has a 20-step protocol for having backhoes on the track. No trains are supposed to go on a tracks where such equipment is present.
“Clearly this seems very likely to be human error,” Schumer said, calling for Amtrak to review its processes. “There is virtually no excuse for a backhoe to be on an active track.”
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating. Officials with the Federal Railroad Administration were also sent to the scene, an agency spokesman said.
Sunday’s crash came less than one year after an Amtrak train heading north derailed in north Philadelphia. That accident, killed eight passengers and injured more than 200. The cause of that crash remains under investigation, but authorities said the train was traveling twice the speed limit. The crash sparked debate in Congress with Republicans rejecting Democratic proposals to increase Amtrak’s safety budget.
