Hearing postponed for Amtrak engineer charged in fatal crash

PHILADELPHIA – A preliminary hearing has been postponed until Sept. 12 for an Amtrak engineer charged in a Philadelphia derailment that killed eight, as one of the engineer’s attorneys is questioning why charges were brought so long after the crash.

Thirty-four-year-old Brandon Bostian was on a Washington-to-New York run May 12, 2015, when investigators say he accelerated to 106 mph on a 50 mph curve. The train jumped the tracks, killing eight people and injuring 200.

Federal investigators say Bostian forgot where he was.

After Philadelphia’s district attorney declined to prosecute, a judge ordered charges filed.

On the two-year deadline last month to prosecute him, Bostian was charged with causing a catastrophe and involuntary manslaughter.

One of Bostian’s lawyers said Wednesday he’s “kind of surprised criminal charges were filed at this point.”