On July 6, 2016, about 9:59 a.m. eastern daylight time, northbound Amtrak Silver
Meteor train P09806 (train), operating on the South Florida Regional Transportation
Authority (SFRTA) track, struck a 2004 white 4-door Mercury Sable (automobile) at the
25th Street highway-rail grade crossing (crossing) in West Palm Beach, Florida. At the time of the collision, a VTMI signal employee was working in the crossing warning system bungalow. The event recorder in the bungalow recorded a 1-second warning before the collision. The automobile driver was seriously injured.
The train was en route from Miami, Florida, to New York, New York. The train did
not derail. The train crewmembers and passengers were not injured. The damages to the train
were estimated at $16,300; the automobile was a total loss. At the time of the accident, the
sky was clear, the visibility was 10 miles, and the temperature was 88°F.
We determined that the probable cause of the accident was the failure of the VTMI signal inspector to provide for the safety of train movements and highway users prior to disabling the highway-rail grade crossing warning system at the 25th Street highway-rail grade crossing while performing tests. Contributing to the accident was the failure of the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority and VTMI management to ensure proper procedures were followed during testing to provide for the safety of the train movements and the highway users.
We made a recommendation to the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority and to VTMI.
