Amtrak Derailment: What We Know One Month Later

It has been exactly one month since an Amtrak train derailed in Philadelphia, killing eight and injuring more than 200 people.

Investigators have yet to determine the cause of the crash, although preliminary information released by the National Transportation Safety Board shows the train was traveling more than 100 miles per hour when it hit a curve at Frankford Junction in Port Richmond.

That curve has a posted speed limit of 50 mph.

The NTSB says a probable cause of the accident will not be determined until the investigation is completed. That could take as long as a year, according to officials.

Here is what we know so far, according to investigators:

• The NTSB’s preliminary report confirmed that the train accelerated to 106 miles per hour before hitting a curve, which has a posted speed limit of 50 mph.
• The engineer driving the train at the time was Brandon Bostian, 32, a New York City resident who had been employed by Amtrak for six years.
• Investigators believe Bostian hit the emergency brake just before the train derailed.
• Bostian was not using his cell phone in the moments leading up to the derailment, the NTSB says. The NTSB analyzed his cell phone calls, texts and data usage from tower records and information from the train’s WiFi system.
• The FBI has ruled out the possibility that the train was struck by a firearm just before the crash. The FBI, which was asked to investigate damage to the left portion of the train’s windshield, found no evidence the train was shot at by a firearm before it accelerated ahead of the curve.
• Amtrak has pledged to have a Positive Train Control system installed in the company’s Northeast Corridor tracks by the end of the year. Experts agree that such a system could have made automatic adjustments that might have prevented the derailment.
• Victims have begun filing lawsuits against Amtrak. Felicidad Redondo Iban, Daniel Armyn, Amy Miller and Maria Jesus Redondo Iban are seeking unspecified damages for claims of negligence and outrageous conduct.
• The crash caused more than $9 million in damage, officials estimate.