AP Photo/Craig Ruttle
The Metro North passenger train that derailed in the Bronx on Sunday, killing four people and injuring dozens more, was going above the speed limit even before it entered a turn at too high a speed, the NTSB said today.
The speed limit in the turn was 30 mph, and the limit in the section of track before was 75 mph. The train was going 82 mph when it entered the turn. Why it was going so fast is "the question we need to answer," Board member Earl Weener said in a press conference.
After the accident, the engineer said the train's brakes failed. The NTSB said that seconds before the engine stopped, "pressure in the brake pipe dropped from 120 psi [a unit of brake pressure] to 0 - which resulted in max braking." The train's crew was tested for drugs and alcohol, but results have not come back yet. The conductor's cell phone has been recovered, and will be examined for evidence.