Posted on 11/20/2013 12:57:54 PM PST by Third Person
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Amtrak wants to know how one of its trains took a wrong turn and got lost in the Philadelphia suburbs.
Worried and baffled were most travelers at 30th Street Station Tuesday night.
Mike Roberts of Coatesville said, “Wow, that’s crazy. That’s not professional at all. How could that happen?”
It sounds wild, but Amtrak officials confirm it did happen and what they can tell us so far is this: Amtrak Train 644 that left 30th Street Station for New York City accidentally ended up on the SEPTA tracks. The train actually traveled several miles before the mistake was finally caught and the train stopped at the Bala Cynwyd station.
Peter Menendez of Princeton, NJ said, “I think mistakes happen, I come from that industry and the utilities and it’s hard to coordinate systems like that. I feel bad for those folks.”
It happened last Thursday and according to Amtrak, the 130 passengers on-board may have been inconvenienced, but everyone was safely brought back to Philly, put on a different train and taken to New York, this second time around, without incident.
Jennifer Wallace of Tampa, FL said, “Definitely they need to investigate. I don’t think anybody should get fired but maybe disciplinary, definitely but they should look into it so it doesn’t happen again, be more cautious than anything.”
Steve Kulm, Amtrak’s Media Relations Director released a statement which read in part: “An investigation was launched and the crew has been held out of work until they can be fully debriefed and additional training can be conducted.”
They don’t have the money to demolish it, and it’s probably not safe enough for a continuation of the bike path. My understanding is that it’s crumbling.
How does one pronounce “Bala Cynwyd”?
Wojciehowicz
I don't think that is possible, or at least it's extremely unlikely by using the signal system. Even if the dispatcher tried to line the signals, there are fail safes in the field to ensure that can't happen.
That being said, train crews can pass red signals under instructions from a dispatcher.
Szczecin?
You could be right, but Zoo Interlock is one of the most complicated interlocks in the country.
Szczecin?
Only this side of the international date line.
I’m not familiar with any RR on the east coast, but the FRA has rules governing how signals must work.
Apparently there are plans to connect the Cynwyd Heritage Trail across the bridge with the Schuylkill River Trail. I took that picture crossing the Green Lane Bridge on my way to the Cynwyd trail.
Snort. Willie picked a bad day to tick off the boss years ago.
We will always remember Willie Green....
what the heck is Bala Cynwyd? Did the Welsh invade Pennsylvania??
I agree. It seems doubtful to me that anything BUT a switch being thrown in some direction in error, by those controlling it (not on the train).
Who's writing this story, Yoda?
“...trouble ahead, trouble behind...”
A bus maybe - but a train?...
Maybe the driver didn’t recognize “Bala Cynwyd” as the name of a place, not ever having been on that route before. It could have read like some kind of technical instruction to track maintenance personnel, like “ballast the kinwood.” This place could host the national spelling bee.
Balagan in Bala Cynwyd.
Amtrak has union engineers (humans) that drive the engine cars. The engineer has comm with the track sensors that tell them where they are (mile markers).
Two things happened, the switch was not set correctly for shared amtrak lines (commuter rail to Bala Cynwyd on SEPTA) and the amtrak owned tracks to NYC; second, the engineer had to have known and reported in— if not- they are toast. Especially if a commuter train came into Bala Cynwyd and hit them- from either direction. So this is dispatcher also.
Thanks, my comments assumed the line out of Bala Cynwyd continued— so that a head on might have been possible. Switching error, and also— the engineer not noticing.
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