The Metro-North train that derailed on Sunday morning wastraveling 42 miles per hour above the speed limit when it jumpedthe tracks at a curve near the Bronx's Spuyten Duyvil station,National Transportation Safety Board member Earl Weener announcedin a press hearing.

According to the NTSB's analysis of two “black box” eventrecorders located on the damaged passenger train, the locomotivewas going 82 mph when the speed limit is 30 mph, and reduced itsvelocity to idle only six seconds before it came to a stop.Metro-North regulations state trains may travel up to 75 mph whennearing the curve.

A third-party claims adjuster with more than 40 years ofexperience in the railroad industry told PC360 yesterday that insurance fallout from aderailment may involve excess liability, wrongful death, propertydamage and rolling stock damage claims against the railroadcompany. Most railroads are self-insured for this kind of coverage,he said, and a Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA)spokeswoman confirms the company is self-insured up to $25million.

Passenger train claims would mostly involve personal injuries,and the insured cost of such an event can go into the millions,says the adjuster, depending on the range of injuries. Officialssay some of the victims of the weekend's crash suffered compoundfractures, and one person may be paralyzed from the waist down.

The Metro-North train was operating in “push” mode, or with thelocomotive at its rear, which the TPA says tends to involve morepersonal injuries when an accident occurs.

Brake pressure dropped from 120 psi to 0 psi five seconds beforethe rear-mounted engine stopped, or “very late in the game,” saidWeener. In a previous testimony, engineer William Rockefeller saidthe brakes did not work when he tried to halt the train. The NTSBis now investigating how the brakes performed at the nine stops thetrain made prior to Spuyten Duyvil.

Weener says the train's position, power setting, and otherfactors must be considered–including a low-quality surveillancevideo of the train that must be enhanced–prior to determiningwhether the accident that killed four and injured more than 70occurred due to human error or a faulty breaking system.

Rockefeller, who has been driving trains for two decades with noknown safety violations, was in the front of the car and told hissupervisors that he tried to reduce speed before approaching thebend in the tracks to no avail.

Weener said the NTSB knows of no anomalies with the brakes onthe train in question.

“I'm not an expert in this field, but working with the expertsover the past day, I think it's going to be speed-related,” NewYork Governor Cuomo told the Today show on Monday.