Portal:Trains/Selected article/Week 11, 2016

The 1996 Maryland train collision occurred on February 16, 1996, when a MARC commuter train collided with Amtrak's Capitol Limited passenger train in Silver Spring, Maryland. An investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) found that the crew of the MARC train had forgotten the indication of an approach signal which they had passed before a station stop, and as a consequence could not slow down in time after encountering a stop signal. The collision killed three crew and eight passengers on the MARC train; a further eleven passengers on the MARC train and fifteen passengers and crew on the Capitol Limited were injured. Total damage was estimated at $7.5 million. The crash led to the creation of comprehensive federal rules for passenger car design, the first in the history of passenger service in the United States, as well as changes to operating rules.