RAILROAD ACCIDENT REPORT - REAR-END COLLISION OF AMTRAK PASSENGER TRAIN 94, THE COLONIAL AND CONSOLIDATED RAIL CORPORATION FREIGHT TRAIN ENS-121, ON THE NORTHEAST CORRIDOR, CHASE, MARYLAND, JANUARY 4, 1987

On January 4, 1987, northbound Conrail train ENS-121 departed Bay View yard at Baltimore, Maryland. Almost simultaneously, northbound Amtrak train 94 departed Pennsylvania Station in Baltimore. About 1:30 p.m., the engineer of train 94 apparently recognized that signal 2N was "stop" and put his train into emergency braking. However, the train could not be stopped before colliding with train ENS-121. The engineer and 15 passengers aboard train 94 were fatally injured; 174 other persons aboard the trains received minor to serious injuries. The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the accident was the failure, as a result of impairment from marijuana, of the engineer of Conrail train ENS-121 to stop his train before it fouled track 2 at Gunpow, and the failure of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and Amtrak to require and Conrail to use automatic safety backup devices on all trains on the Northeast Corridor.

• Corporate Authors:

  National Transportation Safety Board

  Bureau of Accident Investigation, 800 Independence Avenue, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20594
• Publication Date: 1988-1-8

Media Info

• Pagination: 208 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crash causes; Crash reports; Crashes; Railroads
• Subject Areas: Highways; Railroads; Safety and Human Factors; I80: Accident Studies;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00477048
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Technical Information Service
• Report/Paper Numbers: NTSB/RAR-88/01
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Nov 30 1988 12:00AM