National Transportation Safety Board

“ Through its locomotive engineer training program, Amtrak is trying to provide the same basic operating knowledge and skills, but within a much shorter time frame and more structured setting. Prospective engineers now receive at least part of their training in classes, and operating information pertaining to equipment and train control is technologically more advanced. ”

“ The rule requires railroads to have a formal process for evaluating prospective locomotive engineers and to determine their train operation competency before permitting them to operate equipment. Under the regulations, railroads must also conform to FRA-approved training programs for prospective locomotive engineer candidates, employ standard methods to identify qualified engineers, and monitor engineers' performance. If a railroad hires qualified persons as locomotive engineers or employs another entity to conduct training on its behalf, that railroad may elect not to have a training program. ”

“ Since the training program has not been evaluated, no evidence is available to establish that the accelerated physical characteristics familiarization produces the same long-term retention of territory information that traditional familiarization did. ”

“ The instructing engineers for apprentice OJT stated that trainees with a valid permit (head end pass) to ride the locomotive operate the train on the basis of the trainees' acquired skills. No engineers or apprentice engineers identified any documentation provided to show that they had passed qualification testing on the physical characteristics of their territories, and one apprentice said he had operated trains before being qualified. The apprentice engineer on Amtrak train 66 stated that he completed his physical characteristics qualification before attending the class. ”

“ The automatic speed control system, which functions in signalized territory, is connected to the locomotive cab signal, it is independent of and not connected to the locomotive's speedometer and event recorder. If the locomotive engineer fails to reduce speed to the authorized level in cab signal territory, the speed control automatically triggers a brake application to slow and stop the train Signal 226 2 at Ruggles Street was not coded to provide the 30-mph speed restriction at MP 227. ”

“ The coordinator for the Boston class stated that qualification of apprentice engineers on physical characteristics before they receive their classroom instruction is not essential. The system general road foreman testified that apprentices must qualify on physical characteristics before they are permitted to run a locomotive. ”

“ In the most recent class, some apprentices took their certification examination on the simulator before they had completed their OJT. Safety Board investigators were told that currently, if apprentice engineers fail the training program, they are not permitted to return to their previous jobs and are terminated by Amtrak. Apprentices stated that the possibility of losing their jobs put them under great pressure. ”

“ Event Recorder Tests—The Safety Board laboratory received the Pulse data pack from Amtrak locomotive 366 for readout and evaluation on December 13. The laboratory's Pulse readout machine generated a strip chart of the data recovered. Data from the event recorder, which recorded information about every 5 3/4 seconds, showed no signs of accident damage. Safety Board engineers found an electronic end-of-tape mark [5] on the magnetic tape that prevented strip chart output of data from Route 128 to just beyond the accident. ”

“ The EMS personnel and both traincrews began evacuating the injured passengers and injured crewmembers. After the accident, the conductor of MBTA train 906 described the evacuation as orderly. The EMS transported 278 people with injuries to local hospitals. Among the 14 admitted were the locomotive engineer and apprentice engineer from Amtrak train 66 and 7 firefighters. No fatalities occurred as a result of the accident.
Both trains sustained massive equipment damage. The fuel tank on Amtrak locomotive 366 broke loose, and a diesel fuel fire ensued. ”

“ Qualification on physical characteristics is accomplished by riding the routes a number of times to familiarize oneself with them, after which a rules examiner or other railroad official administers an oral examination. ↑ Sand is used in locomotive braking to generate more friction between locomotive wheels and the rail. ↑ High performance skills are those that require more than 100 hours of training, those in which substantial numbers of individuals do not develop proficiency, and those in which expert performance is qualitatively different from that of the novice. ”

“ In practice, familiarizing students with the territories and teaching them operating skills have been accomplished at the same time and, for some apprentices, almost in the time frame originally allocated for OJT alone.
Authorities caution that training programs for high performance skills [11] must not overload trainees' attention capacities [12] One Amtrak coordinator for OJT activities said he was not comfortable with combining the two phases, and evidence indicates that some engineers from recent classes did not believe the program allowed them to learn the territories adequately. ”

“ It is ballasted to the concrete tunnel floor with 24-inch deep crushed rock Near the POD, the north rail is fitted with an operative wheel-flange lubricator about 750 feet west of the curve.
The MBTA owns the track, and Amtrak maintains it for trains operating at speeds up to 100 mph. Amtrak performs scheduled track inspections twice weekly, at intervals of at least 1 day, and does daily walking inspections of concrete ties. In May 1990, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) had inspected the track and noted no defects in the derailment area. ”

“ Operations InformationOperations Information Operating Procedures—Amtrak train 66 operated on the Boston division from New Haven (MP 72.3) to Boston (MP 228.7) Amtrak also operates MBTA commuter trains in the Boston area in accordance with the operating agreement of January 1, 1987, and dispatches trains and maintains physical plants in accordance with the MBTA agreement of July 1, 1984. The CETC signal and dispatching system controls the train operations on the main tracks at Boston. The train dispatcher oversees about 220 trains daily. ”

“ The locomotive engineer stated that the MBTA train 906 was almost stopped on track 1, moving about 5 to 10 mph, at the time of the accident He was standing at the controls in the cab, felt the collision, and was knocked to the floor Not knowing exactly what had happened, he made an emergency radio call to the dispatcher. ”

“ During that time, he also acquired train-handling proficiency, judgment, and other necessary operating skills under the supervision of experienced engineers who provided individualized attention. Moreover, when engineers began working in passenger service, they had usually become experienced in operating other kinds of trains before advancing to higher speed equipment. ”

“ They said they frequently based their choice on two factors, the convenience of the trip in terms of schedule and destination and the engineers' willingness to allow the apprentices to operate the train. ”

“ At 8 23 am in the Boston train dispatcher's office, the Centralized Electrical and Traffic Control (CETC) system illuminated a “track occupied" light (TOL) for track 3 at Back Bay station. The dispatcher stated that before the TOL illuminated,
Figure 2.—Diagram of Amtrak train 66 speed and distance travelled. ”