AMTRAK CASCADES SERVICE on
the Tacoma, Wash., area’s Point
Defiance Bypass remains in
limbo, as does an offer of newer
Talgo trainsets to replace wreck-
damaged equipment, in the
wake of the National Transpor-
tation Safety Board hearing on
the fatal December 2017 derail-
ment of Cascades train No. 501.
These are among the find-
ings of Trains inquires to Cas-
cades stakeholders following
the May 21 hearing [see “Cas-
cades Investigation Finds Wide-
spread Blame, Dooms Talgos,”
“News,” August 2019] and the
June 24 release of the NTSB’s
final report on the derailment
in DuPont, Wash., of the first
Amtrak train to use the bypass.
Revenue service on the by-
pass is on hold while Washing-
ton State Department of Trans-
portation’s Rail, Freight, and
Ports Division; Amtrak; and
other agencies follow up on theNTSB’s recommendations on
the route and the four Talgo
Series 6 trainsets. And the state
won’t say why it has spurned an
offer of at least one of two Talgo
Series 8 trainsets languishing at
Amtrak’s Beech Grove (Ind.)
Heavy Maintenance Facility,
even though new passenger
cars it hopes to acquire may not
be available for five years.REPORT REACTION
The NTSB’s final report
determined the probable cause
of the Dec. 18, 2017, derailment
was the failure of bypass owner
Sound Transit to mitigate for
the route’s lack of positive train
control. This “allowed the
Amtrak engineer to enter the
30-mph curve at too high of a
speed due to his inadequate
training on the territory and in-
adequate training on [the new
Charger locomotive].” A con-
tributing factor was Washington
DOT’s decision “to start revenue
service without being assured
that safety certification and veri-
fication had been completed to
the level determined in the pre-
liminary hazard assessment.”
The rail division was anxious
for the Cascades to use the
bypass because of plans for two
additional daily round trips
south of Seattle. The route’s fast-
er timings would make this pos-
sible, along with Oregon’s 2013
acquisition of two Talgo Series 8
trainsets to join the five Series 6s
that had carried passengers
safely since 1999. Schedulespromising increased ridership
and revenue had been promoted
for more than a month.
Though not a cause, the
NTSB deduced that the Talgo
Series 6 trainset contributed to
the severity of the accident.
Washington’s rail division there-
fore announced it would adhere
to the NTSB’s recommendation
to replace that equipment “as
soon as possible.” It immediate-
ly reduced the state’s mainte-
nance agreement with Talgo to
one year — expiring June 30,
2020 — just a month after
extending it for two years.
Talgo says it told the state
DOT that the company is for-
mally challenging the NTSB’s
finding. “Our expert analysis
leads us to conclude that the
behavior of our Series 6 trainset
was far better than would have
been expected of conventional
equipment in similar circum-
stances,” Talgo spokeswoman
Nora Friend tells Trains.
Josh Coran, Talgo’s director
of product development and
compliance, contends that the
Series 6 trainsets’ waiver from
compliance with FRA’s former
Tier II 800,000-pound buff
strength crashworthiness re-
quirement played no role in
damage to the equipment
caused by its derailment at 78
mph on a curve. He believes
the Series 6 would qualify un-
der the same Tier III alternate
compliance standards, enacted
in November 2018, that permit
Amtrak’s next-generation Acela18 SEPTEMBER 2019PASSENGER
A Series 6 trainset is examined after 125-mph operation at the
Transportation Test Center in Pueblo, Colo., in 1998. Bob JohnstonA southbound Amtrak
Cascades with a Series 6 Talgo
trainset passes the derelict
station at Steilacoom, Wash., in
June 2018. Washington state’s
Department of Transportation
says it will replace the Series 6
equipment as soon as possible.
Two photos, TRAINS: David LassenNTSB report, Washington DOT inaction put increased-service plan on hold
Cascades in limbo