On the heels of the tragic Amtrak derailment that killed seven people and injured hundreds, some have suggested that ageing infrastructure is at least partly to blame. Take the following excerpt from NPR [4] for example:
It's only in the busy Northeast Corridor that Amtrak passenger fares actually cover operating expenses. State subsidies help pay for some of the other routes, and Congress funds the rest.
Former Amtrak President David Gunn said from its earliest days there were some unrealistic expectations of Amtrak's finances…
Still, Gunn said Amtrak, for the most part, does work. "It hasn't been properly funded, and it hasn't had real support from many administrations." Yet, "it's been able to put together a pretty impressive operation”...
But there are many more infrastructure-related improvements needed, said Brookings Institution transportation expert Robert Puentes.
"The electrical system needs upgrading, there are tunnels that serve as pinch points that are over a century old in some cases. So there's been quite a bit of documentation showing how we need to invest in the Northeast Corridor because it is a very efficient route that does compete very well with other modes of transportation."
Then there’s this rather definitive sounding bit from MarketWatch [5]:
America is crumbling before our eyes. Once, the U.S. was the envy of the world with its modern roads, airports, railroad bridges and other infrastructure.
Everything was first-class.
Now, it’s third-rate.
An Amtrak passenger train derailed Tuesday in Philadelphia, killing at least seven passengers. It’s not too early to say that Amtrak’s crumbling infrastructure didn’t help matters.
Maybe not, but then again, one could say that about a lot of things. For example, it’s also not too early to say that driving a train at 106 into a curve rated for 50 probably “didn’t help matters” either.
We imagine that in the coming weeks, we’ll discover several other “unhelpful” contributing factors, although we now know that one person who won’t be very helpful when it comes to uncovering the unhelpful is engineer Brandon Bostian, because as the WSJ reports, he has no recollection of the entire ordeal.
Via WSJ [6]:
As rescue personnel picked through the train’s wreckage and local hospitals cared for injured passengers, the National Transportation Safety Board said a “black box” data recorder put the train’s speed at 106 mph just before the curve. The train’s engineer applied emergency brakes, but several seconds later, the train’s speed was only down to 102 mph, when the data recorder stopped.
“As we know, it takes a long time to decelerate a train,” said NTSB member Robert Sumwalt in a news conference.
Referring to the application of the brakes before the crash, he added, “You’re supposed to enter the curve at 50 miles an hour. He was already in the curve.”
A law-enforcement official identified the engineer as Brandon Bostian of Queens, N.Y. Mr. Bostian
wasn’t at home Wednesday.
Mr. Bostian’s lawyer, Robert Goggin, told ABC’s “Nightline” that the engineer has no recollection of the crash and “no explanation” for what happened. Mr. Bostian has voluntarily turned over a blood sample and his cell phone, his lawyer said. Philadelphia authorities said Mr. Bostian spoke with city police but didn’t give a formal statement, ABC News reported.
And although “Mr. Goggin said his client would be willing to speak to the NTSB,” it’s not readily apparent why that would be constructive given that Bostian has already indicated that when it comes to explaining what happened, he’s got nothing.
The wreck has quickly been politicized with some Democrats jumping at the opportunity to blame a lack of infrastructure spending. Meanwhile, Fox’s Megyn Kelly seems to have missed the irony inherent in turning a segment ostensibly aimed at bemoaning the politicization of a tragedy into a political fight.
Via Medianite [7]:
Fox’s Megyn Kelly got pretty pissed off tonight over how quickly some have politicized the Amtrak crash, making the case for more Amtrak funding.
Kelly didn’t quite understand what infrastructure funding has to do with an engineer that was going at twice the speed limit. Both she and Chris Stirewalt piled on the individuals (namely Democrats) making this an issue. Kelly asked, “Who failed them?… How exactly did the infrastructure fail?”
She also fought with DNC official Robert Zimmerman, who argued with Kelly about how one particular infrastructure issue––a positive train control––has been delayed due to funding issues. Kelly still thought it tasteless to invoke politics when people are dead.
So while we wait to discover what engineer Brandon Bostian doesn’t remember, we’ll leave you with the following because a picture is sometimes worth a thousand words:

