MULTIPLE FATALITIES IN AMTRAK DERAILMENT IN WASHINGTON
It has been a grim start to the week in Washington where an Amtrak passenger train derailed earlier this morning plunging into the Interstate 5 killing many passengers on board according to authorities. The state's transportation department recently announced that this new route was part of the project to reduce travel time and the derailment occurred on the first day that Amtrak trains began using a new route between the cities of Tacoma and Olympia. According to reports from Reuters, the new route takes trains along Interstate 5, eliminating a major choke point for passenger trains in Tacoma and allowing trains to reach speeds of 79 miles per hour (127 km per hour), the department has said. Monday’s train, which was scheduled to depart Seattle at 6 a.m. (1400 GMT) en route to Portland, Oregon, was the first to run along the new route.It was not immediately clear whether the derailment, which came during a busy travel time one week before the Christmas holiday, was connected to the new route.