Originally Posted by
jmastron
There should be some very heavy explaining even if PTC wasn't installed and it turns out to be an overspeed case -- it's 2017, and we have readily available technology to eliminate this particular human failure. There's no excuse for not deploying it on vehicles that carry dozens to hundreds of passengers, especially ones (like trains) that are on fixed known-path tracks. I felt the same way after the 2015 Port Richmond derailment. Humans get distracted, lose situational awareness, even fall asleep when they don't mean to, and this is a place where technology can and should be saving lives.
If this is failing to slow for 30 mph for a curve in an otherwise-79 mph zone, it's particularly striking that it happened on literally the first revenue run for this new section of track. I would think the engineer would be particularly aware in this situation. That said, one could also speculate that the engineer and/or Amtrak were particularly eager to demonstrate the speed gains of this new section of track. I'm sure the NTSB investigation will shed some light, but it doesn't look good even ignoring PTC: if the mistake is failing to follow speed limits through a sharp curve, that sounds like inadequate training and preparation for the new route whether or not PTC would have helped. But we really don't know what happened yet, so I'm wary of believing what I type here.