WASHINGTON — A conductor’s use of an emergency door release to open a car door while her train was operating at 40 mph, and Amtrak’s accepted practice of allowing such doors to be opened to monitor platforms while approaching a station, contributed to the death of the conductor in a January 2022 accident in Westerly, R.I., the National Transportation Safety Board says in its final investigation report.
The conductor, later identified as 26-year-old Emily Herrera of Plainville, Mass., fell from Northeast Regional train No. 163 as it approached the station in Westerly, the NTSB had determined in its preliminary report on the Jan. 15, 2022, fatality [see “NTSB: Amtrak train was going 40 mph …,” Trains News Wire, Feb. 16, 2022].
The emergency door release had been used to open the side door on the Amfleet I car to override the safety interlock which prevents the door from opening at speed greater than 3 mph. The open door created a fall hazard, the report notes. After the accident, Amtrak issued a rule and amended special instructions to prohibit employees on the Northeast Corridor from opening side passenger doors while a train is in motion.
The report also indicates that a review of the conductor’s cell phone records indicates data usage before the accident, including a call of more than 2 minutes, in violation of Amtrak and Northeast Operating Rules Advisory Committee operating rules. The NTSB says it “cannot exclude the possibility that the conductor’s personal cell phone usage contributed to the accident.”
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