Deadly Amtrak Derailment in Philadelphia Impacts Funding Debate

A black box has been recovered from last night's Amtrak derailment near Philadelphia, where seven passenger cars went off the rails on a sharp curve while traveling more than 100 miles an hour. Robert Sumwalt, of the National Transportation Safety Board, told reporters, "We're looking at the track, at the train signal, the operation of the train, the human performance, we are setting up a multi-disciplinary investigation to try and understand the factors that led to this accident"

Meanwhile, Democratic Congressman Steve Israel of New York spoke against the cuts to Amtrak funding at the House Appropriations Committee today. "The budgets of this majority" subsidize special interests when they should have been subsidizing the safety of those passengers on that Amtrak train yesterday."

Heather Caygle, who reports on transportation for Politico, has more on the House committee vote to cut Amtrak budget.