Mapping train tracker data to help understand the Amtrak derailment
By Eric Fischer
Although the formal investigation is still in progress,
Amtrak’s real-time train tracker
provides some information about what happened in yesterday’s
tragic derailment.
Every several minutes, Amtrak’s map updates with the speed and location
of active trains, so we can compare Train 188’s speed with
other trains at nearby locations on the same route.
In the map below, the blue circles and small numbers
represent the speeds of other Amtrak Northeast Regional trains.
As you can see, trains normally operate at about 80 mph
west of the curve, slow to around 50 mph for the curve,
and then accelerate to about 110 mph east of it.
Train 188, shown with red circles and large numbers,
appears to have accelerated to 106 mph
before the curve instead of after it.
Elsewhere on the route, Train 188’s speeds were approximately
the same as those of other trains.
We offer our condolences to the families of the passengers
who were injured or killed when the train derailed.
