rail safety Archives - Northwest Public Broadcasting

‘I Knew I Needed To Go Out,’ Says Blood Donor Marking 3rd Anniversary Of Deadly I-5 Amtrak Crash

By Tom Banse December 18, 2020

Donor Kaitlan Vasquez giving blood in Olympia on the third anniversary of the Amtrak 501 train wreck in December 2017. CREDIT: Tom Banse/N3

Three years ago on December 18, a speeding Amtrak Cascades train bound for Portland derailed near DuPont, Washington, and tumbled onto Interstate 5. The crash killed three passengers and injured scores of others. An Olympia woman marked the anniversary Friday by going back to her local blood donation center to achieve a related, but happier milestone.Read More

Cascadia High-Speed Rail: Will It Finally Happen Or Is It ‘Time To Kill This Thing’?

By Tom Banse December 8, 2020

Acela II passes through Halethorpe, MD on its way to Washington DC for the first Amtrak has full rights to this image. New Acela 21 in Testing

A new government report on high speed rail in the Pacific Northwest recommends that Oregon, Washington and British Columbia formalize their interest in a Cascadia bullet train by creating an independent body to plan and eventually build it. But a critic associated with a conservative think tank responded that the region should take heed of California's high speed rail woes Read More

There’s Another Multimillion Dollar Jury Settlement Against Amtrak Following 2017 I-5 Derailment

By Tom Banse November 13, 2019

Cars from an Amtrak train lie spilled onto Interstate 5 below alongside smashed vehicles as some train cars remain on the tracks in DuPont, Washington. CREDIT: ELAINE THOMPSON/AP

An eight-member federal court jury on Wednesday ordered Amtrak to pay Madeleine Garza of Maple Valley, Washington, $4.5 million for pain, suffering and possible future disabilities. Garza received spinal injuries and broke her pelvis during the derailment of the speeding Amtrak Cascades train, which was traveling from Seattle to Portland.Read More