No equipment flaws in deadly Amtrak crash, officials say

WASHINGTON — The chairman of a congressional panel probing last month’s deadly crash of an Amtrak train in Philadelphia on Tuesday said he knew of no equipment flaws that could have contributed to the derailment.

“We are not aware of any defects or issues identified to-date with respect to the track, locomotive or other infrastructure,” said Representative Bill Shuster, a Republican, at the start of a hearing by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

On Monday, House Republican aides told reporters that federal investigators were looking into possible human factors in the May 12 accident that left eight people dead and around 200 injured.

Federal officials told the panel they do not yet know whether a “dead man” safety switch was operating before the derailment and criticized the industry for being slow to install the latest safety devices.

Meanwhile, President Barack Obama issued a veto threat on Tuesday to a bill proposed in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives that would set Amtrak funding at $1.14 billion next year, $262 million below the current level.

Obama’s 2016 budget requested $2.45 billion for rail services to, among other things, “help bring Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor infrastructure and equipment into a state of good repair.” The House bill also denies additional funding for safety inspectors.

House Republican aides also told reporters on Monday investigators might suspect human error caused Amtrak Train 188 to hit speeds of 106 miles per hour (171 km per hour) in a zone with a 50-mph (80-kph) speed limit.

The aides noted they did not yet know if investigators had settled on any theory for the cause of the crash. But if it was mechanical problems, the aides said, regulators likely would have acted by now by ordering checks of similar locomotives.

Some committee members expressed frustration that they did not have more information about cell phone records of 32-year-old engineer Brandon Bostian.

Aides said investigators “are trying to figure out when exactly either texts or emails or phone calls were made and then try to line them up to where the locomotive and the train actually were,” said one aide.

Bostian’s attorney Robert Goggin has said Bostian had turned off his cell phone, as Amtrak requires of all engineers behind the controls.

Joining National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Christopher Hart at the witness table was Amtrak President Joseph Boardman; Sarah Feinberg, acting administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration; and Dennis Pierce, who heads the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen.

Tuesday’s hearing saw some political jockeying by lawmakers amid the expert testimony.

As the White House released its veto threat, Shuster said in his opening statement that “you can’t say a lack of investment” caused the accident.