October 27, 2016
A $265 million settlement has been reached in the federal lawsuit between Amtrak and the passengers of Train No. 188 that derailed last year in Port Richmond, according to the attorneys representing 35 of the people onboard.
The settlement was approved Thursday in an order signed by Judge Legrome D. Davis, of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
The May 12, 2015, crash occurred at Frankford Junction and killed eight people. It also spawned 125 lawsuits.
In a joint statement released by the lawyers involved in the cases, attorney Robert Mongeluzzi called the settlement "historic" in terms of compensation for the plaintiffs and speed of the resolution of the cases.
"While no amount of compensation can replace the loss of human life or heal the injured," Mongeluzzi said, "it is immensely significant that the legal aspect of an incident of this magnitude will be resolved in a fraction of the time it could have taken.”
“The settlement program is a fair, uniform and efficient method to compensate those that lost loved ones as well as the more than 200 injured survivors, many seriously injured,” Kline said in a statement.
There were more than 250 passengers and crew onboard the train when it derailed along the stretch of track in the Port Richmond neighborhood. It later was determined the train had traveled into a curve at 106 mph, more than double the posted 50 mph speed limit.
According to data released after the crash, the National Transportation Safety Board obtained medical records for 172 passengers, including the eight who died and eight others who walked away from the crash with no injuries.
