Train Travels Point Defiance Bypass 4 Years After Derailment

LAKEWOOD, WA — Four years after the disastrous DuPont derailment, an Amtrak train has successfully taken the Point Defiance Bypass.

In the 2017 derailing, the lead car flew off the tracks while approaching the railroad bridge across southbound I-5 just southwest of DuPont. The lead locomotive then pulled all 12 rail cars free of the tracks. Six flew off the bridge and down a nearby embankment— blocking the freeway, killing three passengers and injuring 57 other passengers and crew members.

Fortunately, that horrific scene did not repeat itself Thursday morning, when Amtrak sent its first train down those same tracks for the first time since the crash. Video shared on Twitter shows the first southbound train clearing the City of Lakewood, shortly before it passed the site of 2017's deadly derailment.

As the morning marched on, so did the train, safely traveling the length of the 14.5-mile bypass. The Point Defiance Bypass runs along I-5 between the Tacoma Dome Station, Lakewood, JBLM, DuPont and Nisqually.

Sound Transit says it has been a lot of work to get to this point, and that Amtrak had to meet several "rigorous requirements" before running a train over the bypass again. Those changes included:

Installing Positive Train Control (PTC). PTC tracks trains by satellite, and can override an engineer, slowing down a train if it is going too fast for a curve or other hazard. The National Transportation Safety Board ultimately ruled that the 2017 crash happened because the engineer failed to account for a sharp curve on the tracks that threw the engine from the rails, and many have speculated that PTC could have prevented the deadly crash.

Limiting speeds for trains not using PTC. Sound Transit says any train using its tracks that is not linked to Positive Train Control will have its speeds limited to 30 mph, slower than even federal regulations require. At the time of the 2017 derailment, the Amtrak had been traveling at 78 mph, nearly 50 mph over the speed limit.

Leading into the overpass curve. Trains heading to the overpass where the 2017 derailment occurred will be required to slow down twice; from 79 mph to 50 mph, and then from 50 to 30 mph as the curve approaches. Additional signs warning of the curve and speed limits have also been installed.

Adding a "focus zone" to the railroad timetable. As crews approach the bypass, the timetable now requires that crew members verbally acknowledge the new speed limit step-down to each other. Crews have also been required to take additional training before taking the bypass, a response to the NTSB report which found that the engineer helming the train during the 2017 crash had not been adequately trained or warned about the curve in the railway.

According to Sound Transit, Amtrak has taken the stricter safety requirements seriously, and they're expressing optimism that, this time, the commute will be safe and smooth.

"Amtrak and the Washington State Department of Transportation has met all the requirements and conditions required by Sound Transit to enable passenger rail service to resume on the Point Defiance Bypass," said Sound Transit Chief Safety Officer David Wright in a statement. "Sound Transit addressed all applicable requirements from the National Transportation Safety Board report as well as recommendations from Sound Transit’s own third-party safety audit. The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) also approved the renewal of passenger service earlier this month."