Seven Are Injured in Amtrak Derailment in Vermont

A tragic accident earlier this year in Philadelphia put Amtrak safety under the spotlight and resulted in mass litigation.

The reputation of the service won’t have been helped by another derailment – this time in Vermont –that saw a train plunge down a steep embankment.

Although the crash was not on the same scale as the Philadelphia tragedy in May that killed eight and injured more than 200, eight people were reported injured, one of them seriously.

ABC News reported the train derailed after hitting a rock slide on the tracks in Northfield, Vermont.

“The car was shaking from side to side and I could tell something was going off the tracks,” Ian Turpin, 24, from Brooklyn, New York, told ABC News.

This was a terrifying derailment and the injuries could have been far worse. Passenger Bob Redmond said he was taking a scenic tour of the autumn leaves when the cars started tipping and “down we went.” Passengers smashed windows and helped others out after the crash.

Although the finger was pointed at Amtrak over the accident in May in which the train was reported to have been going at more than 100 mph into a curve, Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin said there was no sign of negligence from the train’s crew at the time of the latest crash.

The most seriously injured victim was airlifted to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire. Central Vermont Medical Center reported it was treating six other patients for injuries that are not life-threatening. They include back, neck and shoulder pain.

The stretch of line that the accident occurred on has seen a number of accidents in recent years. ABC News reported that New England Central Railroad, which operates the line in Vermont, has recorded 54 accidents since 2006, including 14 derailments. Federal records state three of these were fatal accidents.

The Barre Montpelier Times Argus reported the train was traveling at about 50 mph when it derailed and about 80 passengers were onboard.

As a Virginia railroad injury lawyer I have been left increasingly concerned by a series of derailments of passenger trains in New York, California, North Carolina and Philadelphia. These accidents have led to hard questions being asked about America’s railroad infrastructure and the need for automatic systems to help protect both passengers and crew. If you have been hurt in a railroad accident or lost a loved one, call Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers at 757.455.0077 or see CooperHurley.com.