Fed estimates infrastructure damage at more than $40 million in Amtrak 501 crash

Infrastructure damage from the Amtrak 501 crash is estimated at $40.4 million, with medical costs expected to rise much higher, federal officials said Thursday.

Three people were killed and 62 injured Dec. 18 when the high-speed passenger train derailed on its maiden voyage from Tacoma to Portland. Eight people in vehicles on Interstate 5 were hurt in the morning crash.

The train was traveling 78 miles per hour when it derailed near DuPont on a curve rated for 30 mph, investigators have said.

Questions about what led up to the crash remain unanswered.

Investigators haven’t yet talked to the train’s 55-year-old engineer and a 48-year-old conductor training in the cab because of their injuries.

The engineer has been with Amtrak since 2004 and an engineer since 2013.

The National Transportation Safety Board issued a preliminary report on the crash Thursday.

It echoes findings the agency released in the days after the fatal crash: Train workers were not using electronic devices before the crash, the engineer remarked on the train’s speed just before the derailment and tried to apply brakes, and the final recorded speed was 78 mph.

A technology called positive train control, the NTSB said, could have slowed and eventually stopped the train if the engineer did not heed warnings to slow from the PTC system.

It was not in use at the time of the crash.

Many of the injured and families of the dead are expected to file lawsuits in the coming weeks and months.

The train’s conductor has sued in Pierce County Superior Court, alleging Amtrak failed to provide a safe work environment. A passenger has sued as well.

Garrick Freeman suffered multiple broken ribs, a fractured clavicle and serious internal injuries in the crash. He could remain in a recovery facility for a month.

The other lawsuit filed Wednesday is for Pennie Cottrell, who suffered broken ribs, a fractured clavicle and internal injuries, said her attorney, Michael Krzak, of Clifford Law Offices in Chicago.

Lawyers filed documents in King County Superior Court, because of Amtrak’s regional base in Seattle.

Cottrell was in the rail car left dangling off the tracks on the bridge over Interstate 5, Krzak said.

Amtrak’s cap on liabilities from the crash is set at $295 million for all plaintiffs.

This story was originally published January 4, 2018 at 2:33 PM with the headline "Fed estimates infrastructure damage at more than $40 million in Amtrak 501 crash."