NTSB
Railroad Accident Report
3.2 Probable Cause
The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the accident was the engineer's acceleration to 106 mph as he entered a curve with a 50 mph speed restriction, due to his loss of situational awareness likely because his attention was diverted to an emergency situation with another train. Contributing to the accident was the lack of a positive train control system. Contributing to the severity of the injuries were the inadequate requirements for occupant protection in the event of a train overturning.
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