February 20, 1996
Web posted at: 8:20 p.m. EST
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Four days after an Amtrak passenger train collided with a commuter train in Silver Spring, Maryland, Secretary of Transportation Frederico Pena issued emergency orders that will address such issues as exiting passenger rail cars in emergencies and safety plans of passenger railroads.
Pena announced the Federal Railroad Administration rules at a news conference Tuesday. They will take effect at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday.
Engineers must call out each signal during a route to ensure that the engineer has seen them.
Railroads must clearly mark and maintain all emergency exits within train cars.
Trains must travel no faster than 30 mph until engineers see a clear signal.
The emergency mandate was issued after a commuter train in Maryland sped up Friday after receiving a warning to slow down to 30 mph. (Pena explains mandatory safety plan: 187K AIFF sound or 187K WAV sound) It was unable to stop in time to avoid crashing into the Chicago-bound Amtrak train, which was shifting to a parallel track. (Pena explains emergency mandate: 204K AIFF sound or 204K WAV sound)
Eleven people were killed, all of them aboard the commuter train.
Investigators of Friday's crash are also looking into whether eight deaths could have been prevented through improved exit design. Investigators speculate that the exit doors might have jammed or that the instructions on how to open them were unclear to the trapped passengers.
Witnesses said some of the victims on the commuter train frantically tried to get out but were unable to open or break windows. One investigator said the glass in the windows was almost impossible to break.
The National Transportation Safety Board will scrutinize the design of the Amtrak locomotive, a General Motors model on which the fuel tanks extend beyond the main locomotive frame, making them more susceptible to rupture in an impact.
In their search for the cause of the crash, NTSB investigators are focusing on the track's signal system and whether the commuter train's engineer noticed a yellow warning light 3 miles before the crash warning him to slow to 30 mph.
John Goglia, who is heading the investigation, said there is so far no evidence to suggest the track-side warning signal malfunctioned. However, he said investigators intend to ask CSX Transportation, which owns the track and operates Maryland commuter trains, why a signal closer to the crash site was removed in 1993.
CSX spokeswoman Kathy Burns, citing the ongoing investigation, declined to comment on the signal removal.
Dr. John Smialek, Maryland's chief medical examiner, said Tuesday the commuter train's engineer and the two crew members, all of whom were killed, were not under the influence of drugs when the crash occurred.
Monday, the medical examiner said that one crew member and seven Job Corps trainees on board the commuter train died from intense smoke and flames and not from the crash impact.
Smialek said two other crewmen and another student died of injuries from impact.
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