Lingering over the liability claims expected to be raised by victims of the Amtrak 188 derailment is a 1997 federal law that creates a $200 million damages cap to be paid out for any single railroad accident.
The law, which has come under fire over the years for not adequately covering victims’ damages from serious train accidents, mandates Amtrak have $200 million in liability coverage for a single incident. That law exempts claims by Amtrak employees who are separately covered by the 1908 Federal Employers’ Liability Act.
