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Inslee Vows To Make Passenger Rail Service Safe

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee speaks at a briefing at the Incident Command Center for Monday's Amtrak derailment.
Austin Jenkins
/
Northwest News Network
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee speaks at a briefing at the Incident Command Center for Monday's Amtrak derailment.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is vowing to make passenger rail service safer. The Democrat made his comments Tuesday at the scene of Monday’s derailment of an Amtrak Cascades train in Pierce County.

“Given the nature of this tragedy, given the extent of loss, I feel we will succeed in improving rail transit coming out of this,” Inslee said.

Inslee said he’s talked to the U.S. Secretary of Transportation and been briefed by the National Transportation Safety Board. Three passengers were killed and dozens injured when the Amtrak train left the rails at high speed and crashed onto Interstate 5.

The derailment happened on the inaugural run of new, faster Amtrak service between Seattle and Portland.

Copyright 2017 Northwest News Network

Since January 2004, Austin Jenkins has been the Olympia-based political reporter for the Northwest News Network. In that position, Austin covers Northwest politics and public policy, as well as the Washington State Legislature. You can also see Austin on television as host of TVW's (the C–SPAN of Washington State) Emmy-nominated public affairs program "Inside Olympia."