Amtrak has reached a settlement with the engineer who was seriously injured in the fatal 2017 derailment of Cascades train No. 501 on a curve in DuPont, Wash.
In a lawsuit filed against Amtrak, engineer Steven Brown argued that he was not properly trained.
The settlement, compensation for pain and suffering related to the accident, will ensure that Brown will be taken care of for life, his lawyer told the Seattle Times. “We think that it substantiates that it is Amtrak’s fault and not Mr. Brown’s,” said the lawyer, Fred Bremseth.
Brown was at the throttle of the Amtrak train making its first revenue trip over the Port Defiance bypass, an inland route that takes Amtrak traffic off the coastal route shared with BNSF Railway freights. The train was moving at 80 mph when it derailed going through a 30-mph curve on Dec. 18, 2017.
The wreck killed three passengers and injured 65 other people. The National Transportation Safety Board concluded that Amtrak played a major role in contributing factors to the wreck. The safety board’s chairman said the engineer was “set up to fail” due to mistakes that included inadequate practice runs and the lack of positive train control on the route.
Amtrak declined to comment.
Brown, who was fired for violating safety rules, suffered broken ribs, a broken jaw and cheekbone, compressed vertebrae, and elbow damage requiring partial replacement. In a 2021 interview with the newspaper, Brown said he relives the accident “all day” during his waking hours.
Share this article
