RESOLVED

No Charges for Amtrak Engineer in Derailment

Prosecutors couldn’t find evidence of “conscious disregard.”

An Amtrak engineer will not be charged in the 2015 derailment of a train outside Philadelphia that resulted in eight deaths and hundreds of injuries. Prosecutors in the city were not able to prove that Brandon Bostian, the engineer, acted with “conscious disregard” when the train was speeding around a curve at double the post speed limit. “We cannot conclude that the evidence rises to the high level necessary to charge the engineer or anyone else with a criminal offense,” the District Attorney’s Office said in a statement. Additionally, Bostian was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and was not using his cellphone. “The person who was the primary and sole cause of this escape punishment and you paid the price,” a lawyer for the victims’ families said.