"America’s crumbling infrastructure" is the main culprit for the increase in Amtrak derailments in recent years, with "freak accidents" playing a supporting role, according to
The Washington Post.
A safety analysis by the Federal Railroad Administration found that there were two Amtrak derailments in 2012; three in 2013; six in 2014; and already nine in the opening months of 2015.
Six people died and at least 146 people were injured when an Amtrak train traveling from Washington to New York on Tuesday night derailed in Philadelphia,
CNN reported Wednesday morning. Eight of the injured were in critical condition, the station said.
Information is being updated as rescue workers sift through the "mangled wreckage" in daylight.
Amtrak, the Post reports, is a for-profit corporation subsidized by the federal government that doesn’t turn a profit. It's treated as a stepchild when it comes to funding allocations, according to
National Journal contributor Simon Van Zuylen-Wood, who in April penned a piece titled, "Why Can’t America Have Great Trains?"
"While Amtrak isn’t currently in danger of being killed, it also isn’t likely to do more than barely survive," he wrote. "Last month, the House of Representatives agreed to fund Amtrak for the next four years at a rate of $1.4 billion per year. Meanwhile, the Chinese government — fair comparison or not — will be spending $128 billion this year on rail."
The funding decision came as Amtrak ridership has increased by some 50 percent since 2000, according to Van Zuylen-Wood.
He adds that ridership in the Northeast Corridor reached an all-time high in 2014, with Amtrak accounting for 77 percent of all rail and air travel between Washington and New York.
Amtrak CEO Joseph Boardman told the Atlantic last year that the federal government has never been willing to invest enough money to "bring the infrastructure up where it belongs on existing capacity" according to the Post.
Half of all derailments are the result of equipment failures while the other half are caused by "broken, settled, spread, shifted, or overturned rails," according to University of North Dakota mechanical engineering professor George Bibel, who in 2012 wrote
"Train Wreck: The Forensics of Rail Disasters."
According to
National Transportation Safety Board statistics, there were 891 rail fatalities in 2013. Of those, 520 involved trespassers and nontrespassers, 20 involved employees and contractors, six were passengers and 321 involved light, heavy and commuter rail.
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