# Amtrak train derails from bridge onto Interstate 5 near Olympia, Washington

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amtrak-train-derails-from-bridge-onto-interstate-5-near-olympia-washington/804774>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [December 18, 2017, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amtrak-train-derails-from-bridge-onto-interstate-5-near-olympia-washington/804774 "2017-12-18T17:12:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\
**Post date:** [December 18, 2017, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amtrak-train-derails-from-bridge-onto-interstate-5-near-olympia-washington/804774/1 "2017-12-18T17:12:30Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> An Amtrak train derailed and fell off a bridge over Interstate 5 near Mounts Road between Lakewood and Olympia.
> 
> Interstate 5 is completely closed in both directions and dozens of first responders are heading to the scene, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT).
> 
> Pierce County Sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer told news media that three were fatalities on the train and that motorists had been injured, but not killed. The extent of the injuries is not yet known…
> 
> Amtrak tweeted that it was train No. 501 in its inaugural run, which left Seattle for Portland at 6 a.m., that derailed.
> 
> According to WSDOT, the train was running down a new bypass created to avoid slow curves and “single track tunnels on the BNSF Railway main line tracks near Point Defiance and along southern Puget Sound.”

> **[Several dead after Amtrak train traveling at 80 mph derails from bridge onto I-5](https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/train-derails-from-bridge-onto-interstate-5-near-olympia/)**
>
> An Amtrak passenger train derailed near Olympia on Monday morning at a curve in the tracks. It had been southbound from Seattle on the inaugural run of a new service.

It sounds like they failed to properly check everything was OK before the first run with passengers.

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**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\
**Post date:** [December 18, 2017, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amtrak-train-derails-from-bridge-onto-interstate-5-near-olympia-washington/804774/2 "2017-12-18T17:53:04Z")

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I’m closing this since there are no replies. There is already a thread on the subject.