Officials at the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) sent out an order to Amtrak on the need to expand its use of a speed restriction system along Phildelphia's northbound rails. The Advanced Civil Speed Enforcement System works by notifying the engineer when a train is found to be moving beyond the speed limit. It will then automatically apply the brakes when it doesn't receive any response from the engineer.
The automatic braking system had already been installed in the 1990s and used at those places where the train is about to approach a curve. However, the system is only for southbound trains and does not work yet for those trains that are New York bound, which include the one that fell off the tracks last week.
The derailed train was traveling from Washington, D.C. to New York when it suddenly flew off the tracks upon reaching Philadelphia. The accident left more than 200 people injured and eight dead.
Amtrak hopes they can resume limited service on the Philadelphia-New York route on Monday and eventually gain full service on Tuesday.
Apart from expanding the speed restriction system, Amtrak was also ordered to analyze curves as a way to assess the risks that are posed on the Northeast Corridor in an effort to determine other measures that could help improve safety.
"In areas where approach speed is significantly higher than curve speed, the appropriate technology intended to prevent over-speed derailments must be implemented immediately," the FRA said.
The train was said to be moving at the speed of around 170.59kph (106mph) in an 80.47kph (50mph) zone. The FBI is also investigating the significance of the claim made by the train engineer who said that an unknown object hit part of the train's windshield. Speculations say that the engineer could have panicked, felt distracted, or have been physically wounded during those moments before the train was derailed.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said the FBI will investigate the windshield in question which, in a strange coincidence, was also the focus of investigations in two other trains that suffered cracked windows. It was said that objects, still unknown, hit the trains before the deadly crash and that the trains were only a few miles apart when the accident happened.
Amtrak reiterates that safe travel is the company's "overarching goal."
"We will immediately implement the Federal Railroad Administration's directives to further improve passenger train safety along the Northeast Corridor," said Amtrak.
The company added that they will increase the amount and the frequency of signage that will alert engineers and conductors about the maximum authorized speed.
