Derailed Metro-North Train Was Traveling 82 M.P.H. in 30-M.P.H. Zone

Still no word on whether human error or equipment failure was to blame

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TIMOTHY CLARY/AFP/Getty Images

Rescue workers are seen at the wreckage of a commuter train that derailed on Dec 1, 2013, in the Bronx borough of New York City

Correction appended: Dec. 2, 2013

The Metro-North train that derailed in New York City on Sunday morning was traveling at 82 m.p.h. while heading into the 30-m.p.h. zone before the fatal event, National Transportation Safety Board officials said Monday.

Though the information is a breakthrough in the investigation of the deadly crash that killed four and injured over 60 people in the Bronx, NTSB board member Earl Weener said at a press conference on Monday that it was unclear if human error or equipment failure caused the crash.

“For a train to be going 82 miles an hour around that curve is just a frightening thought,” said New York Senator Charles Schumer at the NTSB press conference. Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal joined the chorus of officials demanding answers after the crash, saying, “That train was going way too fast and certainly speed was a contributing factor.”

This crash was the latest in a slew of incidents that have plagued the Metro-North line this year, including a collision in Connecticut that injured more than 70 people in May. Over the summer, a freight train derailed along the same curve that killed four on Monday. The investigation on the crash is still ongoing.

An earlier version of this article misstated the name of the government agency that is investigating the crash. It is the National Transportation Safety Board, not the National Transit Security Board.