$265 Million Federal Settlement for Victims of the Amtrak Train 188 Derailment

On the evening of May 12, 2015, Amtrak Train 188 was carrying passengers from Washington, D.C., to New York City when it approached the Frankford Junction curve in Philadelphia's Port Richmond neighborhood. The engineer, Brandon Bostian, had accelerated to 106 mph -- more than double the 50 mph limit on that bend. Investigators concluded Bostian lost awareness of his location after radio traffic about a SEPTA train struck by rocks diverted his attention. He never applied the brakes.

The train broke apart on the curve. Several cars overturned, others struck steel electrical support structures, and one car was crushed almost flat. Eight people died, including four passengers ejected from the train. More than 200 others were injured, many critically. It became one of the deadliest commuter-rail disasters in the United States in decades.

More than 125 civil cases were filed in federal court and consolidated before Judge Legrome D. Davis in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Robert Mongeluzzi of Saltz Mongeluzzi and Bendesky served on the plaintiffs' leadership committee alongside Thomas Kline and Fred Eisenberg, collectively representing dozens of passengers, including families of two of the eight people killed.

Because Amtrak is a federally chartered corporation, its liability was governed by the Amtrak Reform and Accountability Act, which at the time imposed a $200 million damages cap on mass rail accidents -- a cap Congress had already raised to $295 million in response to this very crash. The $265 million figure fell within that revised ceiling and, at the time, represented the largest payout of its kind in the country under the federal rail-accident framework.

Judge Davis approved the settlement on October 27, 2016, and appointed two special masters to evaluate individual claims for economic losses, medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering. Attorneys expected distributions to claimants by the summer of 2017. Mongeluzzi noted the resolution would deliver compensation 'in a timely manner' rather than subjecting families to years of additional litigation -- from filing to resolution, the case concluded in roughly 18 months.