'Train was speeding' - Experts say

onnaedo

May 14, 2015 11:43 AM

When the train then hit 170km/h on a 50mph track, the driver applied the emergency brakes, but this only brought the speed down to 102mph when the deadly crash happened.

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Safety experts have said that the Amtrak train enroute New York that derailed in Philadelphia, killing at least 7 people, was travelling at twice the speed limit.

According to BBC, the speed was recorded in the so-called black box recovered from the wreckage.

Speaking with reporters, Robert Sumwalt of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said a speed control system along Amtrak's Northeast Corridor was not yet in place on that section.

He added that had such a system been installed in that section of track, the accident would not have occurred.

Amtrak Train 188 had been travelling from Washington to New York when it derailed leaving 7 people dead and over 200 people injured.

The death toll rose from 6 to 7 on Wednesday, as another body was found by the search and rescue team.

Meanwhile, one of the busiest stretches of passenger rail in the United States, between Philadelphia and New York, is closed as officials continue to try to establish exactly what happened.

onnaedo