A backhoe operator had a right to be on the tracks periodically on the weekend an Amtrak train slammed into it, killing the operator and a supervisor, federal crash investigators said Monday.
The engineer of an Amtrak passenger train applied the emergency brakes five seconds before it struck a backhoe sitting on the same track, killing the backhoe operator and a track supervisor, federal officials said.
Amtrak said its trains will run as regularly scheduled Monday, as federal officials investigate the deadly derailment outside Philadelphia after a train struck heavy equipment on the tracks.
Amtrak service was suspended Sunday morning between New York and Philadelphia after a train hit a backhoe on the tracks south of Philadelphia, killing two people, according to reports.
A $19 million line item in the new federal budget that's dedicated to much-needed improvements and modernization along the Northeast Rail Corridor is being praised as a "foot in the door" for possibly more federal funding.
Safety technology that can prevent crashes like a deadly passenger train derailment in May has been activated on Amtrak tracks between Philadelphia and New York.
The environmental impacts of a large-scale transformation of the Northeast Corridor rail line would be greatly outweighed by an eventual decrease in energy usage and greenhouse gas production, as well as an increase in economic activity and mobility, a draft environmental report released Tuesday concluded.