Coons, Carper rally for transportation funding

Delaware's U.S. senators spoke in front of business and labor leaders Monday, calling for an increase in funding for transportation projects in Delaware, and across the country.

Senators Tom Carper and Chris Coons spoke outside AAA's office in Wilmington, three blocks from the Wilmington Station, where Amtrak trains are running to New York City for the first time in almost a week. Eight died after an Amtrak train crashed Tuesday night in north Philadelphia.

"I will continue to push my colleagues in Congress to find a common-sense way to fund a long-term (transportation) bill this summer," said Carper in a statement.

A total of $600 million worth of highway and other infrastructure projects have been delayed in Delaware because of a lack of federal funding, Coons said. On Thursday, Carper introduced a bill to extend these funds.

Later in the day, Senator Coons spoke with Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania on the platform at Wilmington Station. There he said that low funding of highways and rails in the U.S. has led to "unaddressed" challenges.

Federal-funding for Amtrak has been in the spotlight since it became clear that the stretch of track where the Philadelphia accident occurred did not have a rail safety system, known as Positive Train Control. Congress mandated that all passenger tracks be equipped with this system by the end of 2015. Positive Train Control can slow down a speeding train, independent of the conductor's actions. Amtrak said on its website that the system will be operational on its rails in the Northeast corridor by the December, 2015 deadline.

F.B.I. investigators were also in Wilmington Monday examining the windshield from Amtrak's crashed locomotive, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. There, they found that the train had not been hit by a bullet prior to the crash.

"They were able to determine that there was no lead residue on the windshield," said Peter Knudson, spokesperson for the NTSB. "The (F.B.I.'s) Evidence Response Team has worked with the NTSB over the years."

There is still the possibility that another object hit the locomotive's windshield, according to the NTSB.

Craig Schultz, a spokesman for Amtrak, said vandalism does happen on the trains that run through the Northeast corridor. He did not comment on whether a rock or another projectile could have sparked the accident.

"From time to time there are cases of vandalism where usually kids will throw something at a train," he said.

The investigation is still in a "very early phase," and is expected to last 12 months, said Knudson.

Although the locomotive is in Wilmington, the wreckage from the cars are at Amtrak's maintenance facility in Bear, Knudson said.

Contact Karl Baker at kbaker@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2329. Follow him on Twitter @kbaker6.