The Amtrak train that derailed Monday morning on its inaugural trip through a faster railway route was supposed to slow dramatically, to 30 mph, before entering the curve where the crash occurred. 
 
 The Amtrak train that derailed Monday morning on its inaugural trip through a faster railway route was supposed to slow dramatically before entering the curve where the crash occurred. 
 
 The speed limit at the curve where the train crosses Interstate 5 is 30 miles per hour, said state transportation department spokeswoman Barbara LaBoe, while the speed limit on most of the track is 79 mph. She said speed-limit signs are posted two miles before the lowered speed zone and then just before the zone. 
 
 “Engineers are trained to slow trains according to posted speeds,” she said. 
 
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 Daniel Konzelman, who was driving on I-5 south parallel to the train, said he was traveling at 60 mph or more and watched the train pass his vehicle about a half-mile before the crash. A website that monitors locations and speeds of Amtrak trains, transitdocs.com, reported that the train was going about 81 mph shortly before the derailment, The Associated Press reported. 
 
 A late-night news conference by National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) officials verified the train was going 80 mph in the 30 mph zone. Officials said they had no other information. 
 
 Russell Quimby, a consultant who was previously an investigator-in-charge for the NTSB, said it appeared to him that the derailment was caused by speed. He said the track appeared relatively undisturbed, so it seemed unlikely that something knocked the train off the track, and he noted that it appeared the train drove in a straight line, missing the turn. 
 
 The railway route had recently undergone a $181 million retrofit program in order to speed up passenger service that previously traveled away from the freeway and along the coast. Part of that retrofit was to include “positive train control” systems that can prevent dangerous situations such as excessive speed. 
 
 The 14.5-mile corridor is now equipped for positive train control equipment, but the train controls aren’t operating yet in that area, said Amtrak CEO Richard Anderson. An Amtrak spokesman said the equipment was still being tested. 
 
 Federal safety officials have been pushing for the implementation of those control systems for years, including in 1993 after a head-on crash between freight trains killed five crewmen in Kelso, Cowlitz County. Congress first mandated in 2008 that they be put in use by the end of 2015. 
 
 Since then, other fatal passenger-train accidents have also come from speeding trains that did not have the train control system installed. That includes 2013 Metro-North commuter train in the Bronx and a 2015 Amtrak crash in Philadelphia, when a train traveling more than twice the speed limit went off the tracks, killing eight people. 
 
 In Washington state, Amtrak suspended a train engineer earlier this year after a derailment near Steilacoom, Pierce County. Officials blamed speed and human error in that case, saying the engineer approached a drawbridge going faster than the 40-mph speed limit. 
 
 While there has been progress on implementing train controls – Amtrak says it completed installation in 2015 of the systems on most Amtrak-owned routes on the Northeast Corridor – the congressional mandate on train controls has been delayed until the end of 2018. Lawmakers have also left open the possibility of another delay until 2020. 
 
 Deborah Hersman, a former NTSB chairwoman who now leads the Chicago-based National Safety Council, said the technology is old and already in use in European and Asian countries with high-speed rail systems. 
 
 “People have this technology in their phones,” she said. “A Pokémon app can tell you you’re driving and disable the app.” 
 
 Watch: 
 
 Here’s what we know about the Amtrak train derailment 
 
 An Amtrak passenger train derailed near Olympia on Monday morning. It had been southbound from Seattle on the inaugural run of a new route. Transportation reporter Mike Lindblom explains what we know. (The Seattle Times) 
 
 Times staff reporters Christine Willmsen, Evan Bush and Mike Lindblom contributed to this report. ||||| CONTINUING UPDATES: Train was 50 mph over limit before deadly derailment 
 
 An Amtrak train making the inaugural run of a new route between Portland and Seattle derailed at high speed early Monday morning near Olympia, killing three and sending more than 70 to hospitals when railcars hurtled off an overpass onto vehicles traveling on Interstate 5 below. 
 
 Authorities haven't released the names of those killed or hurt when 13 cars of the Portland-bound train jumped the tracks while traveling about 80 mph in Dupont, about 40 miles south of Seattle. At least 10 victims suffered serious injuries, authorities said. 
 
 Kimberly Reason with Sound Transit, the Seattle-area transit agency that owns the tracks, confirmed to The Associated Press that the speed limit at the point where the train derailed is 30 mph. Speed signs are posted two miles before the speed zone and immediately before the speed zone approaching the curve where the train left the tracks, she said. 
 
 Positive train control — a technology that can slow or stop a speeding train — wasn't in use on the stretch of track, according to Amtrak President Richard Anderson. 
 
 Amtrak derailment occurred on highly anticipated new route 
 
 The Associated Press mid-afternoon Monday cited a U.S. official as saying the train hit something that sent it off the tracks. The official was not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity; by mid-evening that account had not been confirmed. 
 
 Earlier reports had said as many as six were killed. But at a news conference early Monday night, officials with the Washington State Patrol and West Pierce Fire and Rescue Officials said three had died. They did not address the discrepancy. 
 
 It was unclear whether the deaths were I-5 travelers or those on the train, which carried 80 passengers, five crew members and a technician. State patrol later announced 72 people were transported to hospitals from the scene including four with moderate injuries and nine with minor injuries. There were 19 people who weren't hurt and have since been reunited with their families. 
 
 Washington State Patrol spokeswoman Brooke Bova said investigators are expected to work through the night at the scene. Members of the National Transportation Safety Board are involved, she said. 
 
 Southbound I-5 was closed indefinitely, and northbound travelers were caught in a massive backup throughout Monday. 
 
 Washington State Patrol Chief John Batiste said cranes were being brought in to help remove rail cars. The state Department of Transportation will need to inspect the bridge before reopening southbound Interstate 5, he said. 
 
 The southbound stretch is expected to remain closed during the Tuesday morning commute and possibly for several days, transportation authorities said, who asked drivers to avoid the highway in either direction near DuPont and find alternate routes. 
 
 Jay Sumerlin, a West Pierce Fire and Rescue battalion chief, said the rescue effort wasn't easy, particularly because some train cars were dangling from the overpass. He said jaw tools, air chisels and different forms of saws were used to get into some of the crushed cars. Ladders were also used to reach victims. 
 
 "It was just a difficult place to be," he said. 
 
 Sumerlin described the day as shocking and surreal because crews have had mock training scenarios involving train cars dangling over a highway. 
 
 "Everybody comes in and goes, 'That's not going to happen.' Well, here we are, it's exactly what happened," he said. "I'm glad we trained to that level, because today was one of those days." 
 
 President Donald Trump tweeted his first public comments on the crash mid-morning, connecting the derailment to a need for increased spending on infrastructure. 
 
 "The train accident that just occurred in DuPont, WA shows more than ever why our soon to be submitted infrastructure plan must be approved quickly. Seven trillion dollars spent in the Middle East while our roads, bridges, tunnels, railways (and more) crumble! Not for long!" 
 
 Derailment turns excitement to dismay at Portland's Union Station. 
 
 Officials have not established that infrastructure played a role in the derailment. 
 
 About 10 minutes later, he tweeted again, saying his "thoughts and prayers" were with everyone involved and praising the first responders. 
 
 Bloodworks Northwest issued an urgent appeal for blood, especially O-type blood, AB plasma and platelets. Donations can be made at 9320 N.E. Vancouver Mall Drive, Suite 100, Vancouver, WA 98662. For more information, go to bloodworksnw.org or call 800-398-7888. 
 
 Amtrak released a statement late Monday afternoon, saying it was working closely with families of passengers. It established a Passenger Reception Center and public hotline at 800-523-9101 for those with question about family or friends. 
 
 Anderson, the Amtrak president, said he was "deeply saddened by all that has happened today." 
 
 In a radio transmission immediately after the accident, a railroad employee who was onboard can be heard saying the train had been coming around a corner and crossing a bridge that passed over I- 5 when it derailed. 
 
 "We've got cars everywhere and down onto the highway," he tells a dispatcher, who asks if everyone is OK. "I'm still figuring that out." 
 
 The train was part of Amtrak's Cascades service, which is owned by the Washington Department of Transportation in partnership with the Oregon Department of Transportation. The daily service is run by Amtrak as a contractor. 
 
 Some Amtrak trains continued to run between Portland and Seattle, bypassing the scene of the derailment. The rail system said trains 504 and 509 had been canceled, and that no alternate transportation would be provided. 
 
 But it had not canceled other scheduled trains, including 517, 505 and 507 from Seattle to Portland and trains 518, 14, 506 and 508 from Portland to Seattle. 
 
 Washington Gov. Jay Inslee declared a state of emergency. 
 
 The new train route was part of a $180.7 million project intended to cut 10 minutes off the stretch between Tacoma and Olympia by running alongside I-5 instead of hugging the Puget Sound. It also had fewer curves - limiting the need to slow down - and single-track tunnels where passenger trains must yield to passing freight trains. 
 
 Track testing began in January and February in advance of Monday's launch and continued through at least July, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation. 
 
 The tracks, known as the Point Defiance Bypass, were previously owned by BNSF and were used for occasional freight and military transport. 
 
 Don Anderson, the mayor of Lakewood, Washington, a city along the route, had been critical of the new line, and he had predicted a deadly crash. But Anderson thought it would involve a fast-moving train hitting a car or pedestrian at a crossing. 
 
 Doug Mitchem, 68, got up Monday morning in his Centralia home and turned the TV on. News of the derailment came on, and Mitchem started to worry, he told The Oregonian/OregonLive in an interview. 
 
 His son Drew, an avid train enthusiast, had planned to ride the train from Tacoma to Olympia with a friend because they wanted to be on the first train on this new track. 
 
 Mitchem tried to call his son's cell phone, but no answer. He tried a few more times. Still nothing. Then, around 8:20 a.m., he got a call from a woman who said she had seen Drew, who was OK. Paramedics had taken him to Allenmore hospital in Tacoma with a few broken ribs and, possibly, a broken back. 
 
 Half an hour later, Drew Mitchem called his father from the hospital. He said he had been hurled from the train. 
 
 Doug Mitchem said he will go with a daughter and grandson to see his son tomorrow. He's going to bring him a set of fresh clothes, he said, because Drew clothes had to be cut off. 
 
 In Portland, other train enthusiasts had been ensconced in Union Station from about 6 a.m., excited to greet the first train on the new line. 
 
 Dan McFarling, 70, was there with a therapy dog to talk to people about the importance and safety of rail travel. A longtime member of the Association of Oregon Rail and Transit Advocates, he said he was in shock when he first heard the news. 
 
 "It immediately made me realize our role today would be different that what we had planned," McFarling said, choking up. 
 
 Mid-afternoon, about 10 passengers who had been on the derailed train arrived at Union Station by bus. They declined to speak to the media, but Red Cross spokeswoman Monique Dugaw said the disaster relief organization was working to take care of their immediate needs. 
 
 "We're talking with them," she said, "making sure they have the next steps in place to have a hotel room or to be reunited with their family." 
 
 Dugaw described the passengers as "in shock." 
 
 Hundreds of people came to the aid of those involved in the derailment, according to those at the scene. Among the Good Samaritans was Nate Selden, a Portland neurosurgeon, who helped two dozen people. 
 
 Selden was driving to Seattle with his son, when traffic slowed a few miles south of the derailment. When they got to the scene, Selden quickly started helping first responders triage victims. 
 
 The younger patient he saw was an infant that had been thrown from their mother's arms. But the baby seemed OK. 
 
 "This little infant appeared completely unharmed," Selden said, calling that incident "one of few moments of joy in that devastating scene." 
 
 Reporters Fedor Zarkhin, Jim Ryan, Lizzy Acker, Elliot Njus, Molly Harbarger and Molly Young contributed to this report. 
 
 The Associated Press contributed to this report. ||||| Cars from an Amtrak train lay spilled onto Interstate 5 below alongside smashed vehicles as some train cars remain on the tracks above Monday, Dec. 18, 2017, in DuPont, Wash. The Amtrak train making the... (Associated Press) 
 
 Cars from an Amtrak train lay spilled onto Interstate 5 below alongside smashed vehicles as some train cars remain on the tracks above Monday, Dec. 18, 2017, in DuPont, Wash. The Amtrak train making the first-ever run along a faster new route hurtled off the overpass Monday near Tacoma and spilled some... (Associated Press) 
 
 DUPONT, Wash. (AP) — Federal officials confirmed an Amtrak train was hurtling 50 mph over the speed limit when it careened off an overpass south of Seattle, spilling cars onto the highway below and killing at least three people. 
 
 Bella Dinh-Zarr, a National Transportation Safety Board member, said at a Monday night news conference that information from the event data recorder in the rear locomotive showed the train was traveling at 80 mph in a 30 mph zone when it derailed at 7:34 a.m. Mangled train cars ended up on top of each other - and one hung precariously over the freeway. 
 
 When the clanging of metal and screeching stopped at first it was quiet. Then came the screams. 
 
 After the crash, the injured called out as rescuers — including people who had been in cars on their morning freeway commute — rushed to help. One of the train passengers was Emma Shafer, who found herself at a 45-degree angle staring at the seats in front of her that had dislodged and swung around. 
 
 "It felt oddly silent after the actual crashing," Shafer said. "Then there was people screaming because their leg was messed up ... I don't know if I actually heard the sirens, but they were there. A guy was like, 'Hey, I'm Robert. We'll get you out of here.'" 
 
 Dinh-Zarr said it's not yet known what caused the train to derail and that "it's too early to tell" why it was going so fast. 
 
 Positive train control — the technology that can slow or stop a speeding train — wasn't in use on this stretch of track, according to Amtrak President Richard Anderson. 
 
 In 2015, an Amtrak train in Philadelphia was traveling at twice the 50 mph speed limit as it entered a sharp curve and derailed. Eight people were killed and more than 200 were injured when the locomotive and four of the train's seven passenger cars jumped the tracks. Several cars overturned and ripped apart. 
 
 A track chart prepared by the Washington State Department of Transportation shows the maximum speed drops from 79 mph (127 kph) to 30 mph (48 kph) for passenger trains just before the tracks curve to cross Interstate 5, which is where the train went off the tracks. 
 
 The chart, dated Feb. 7, was submitted to the Federal Railroad Administration in anticipation of the start of passenger service along a new bypass route that shaves off 10 minutes for the trip between Seattle and Portland, Oregon. 
 
 Kimberly Reason with Sound Transit, the Seattle-area transit agency that owns the tracks, said speed signs are posted 2 miles (3 kilometers) before the speed zone changes and just before the speed zone approaching the curve. 
 
 Eric Corp, a councilman for the small city of DuPont near the derailment, said he rode the train with about 30 or so dignitaries and others on a special trip Friday before the service opened to the public Monday. 
 
 "Once we were coming up on that curve, the train slowed down considerably," he said, adding that "in no way did it make me feel like we were going too fast." 
 
 The train was not full. Authorities said there were 80 passengers and five on-duty crew members on board when it derailed and pulled 13 cars off the tracks. Authorities said there were three confirmed deaths. More than 70 people were taken for medical care — including 10 with serious injuries. 
 
 About two hours after the accident, a U.S. official who was briefed on the investigation said he was told at least six people were killed. The official said he had no new information to explain the discrepancy in the numbers. The official was not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. 
 
 In a statement, the FBI said local police were the primary responders and there was no information suggesting "an elevated risk to Washington residents." 
 
 In a radio transmission immediately after the accident, the conductor can be heard saying the train was coming around a corner and was crossing a bridge that passed over Interstate 5 when it derailed. 
 
 Dispatch audio also indicated that the engineer survived with bleeding from the head and both eyes swollen shut. 
 
 "I'm still figuring that out. We've got cars everywhere and down onto the highway," he tells the dispatcher, who asks if everyone is OK. 
 
 Aleksander Kristiansen, a 24-year-old exchange student at the University of Washington from Copenhagen, was going to Portland to visit the city for the day. 
 
 "I was just coming out of the bathroom when the accident happened. My car just started shaking really, really badly," he said. 
 
 The back of his train car was wide open because it had separated from the rest of the train, so he and others were able to jump out to safety. 
 
 The train was making the inaugural run on the new route as part of a $180.7 million project designed to speed up service by removing passenger trains from a route along Puget Sound that's bogged down by curves, single-track tunnels and freight traffic. 
 
 The new bypass was built on an existing inland rail line that runs along Interstate 5 from Tacoma to DuPont, near where Train 501 derailed. 
 
 ___ 
 
 This story has been updated to reflect that authorities said Monday night that three people died. A U.S. official said earlier that six people were killed. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Flaccus reported from Portland and Sisak reported from Philadelphia. Associated Press staffers Manuel Valdes in Dupont, Sally Ho and Phuong Le in Seattle and Michael Balsamo in Los Angeles contributed to this report. 
 
 ___ 
 
 For complete coverage of the deadly derailment, click here: https://www.apnews.com/tag/TrainDerailment . ||||| The train accident that just occurred in DuPont, WA shows more than ever why our soon to be submitted infrastructure plan must be approved quickly. Seven trillion dollars spent in the Middle East while our roads, bridges, tunnels, railways (and more) crumble! Not for long!
– The Amtrak train that derailed in Washington state Monday morning, killing at least three people, was speeding, officials say, and not by a trivial amount: The train was going 80mph in a zone where the limit was 30mph when it came off the tracks on an overpass between Tacoma and Olympia, spilling cars onto Interstate 5, National Transportation Safety Board member Bella Dinh-Zarr said Monday night. She said it was "too early to tell" why the train, which was making its first run on a new route, was going so fast, the AP reports. Washington state transportation department spokeswoman Barbara LaBoe says the train was supposed to slow down dramatically as it entered the curve, and speed-limit warnings were posted two miles ahead of the zone as well as just before it, reports the Seattle Times. Amtrak President Richard Anderson says positive train control, a system that can slow down speeding trains, was not in use on the stretch of track where the accident occurred. More than 70 people were injured in the crash, at least 10 of them seriously, authorities say. It's not clear yet whether the three people killed were motorists or people from the train, which carried 80 passengers, five crew members, and a technician, the Oregonian reports. State police say 19 uninjured people from the train were reunited with their families. President Trump tweeted that the accident showed why his infrastructure plan "must be approved quickly," though the New York Times notes that the accident happened on brand new tracks that were part of a state-funded infrastructure investment program.