The engineer of an Amtrak passenger train applied the emergency brakes five seconds before it struck a digger sitting on the same track, killing the operator and a track supervisor, US officials said.

Good afternoon. Here’s all the news you need to know this lunchtime.

An Amtrak train struck a piece of construction equipment just south of Philadelphia, and partially derailed in a incident that claimed two lives and injured at least 35.

Brilliant sunshine and rising temperatures followed the mammoth blizzard that paralysed much of the US east coast.

Experts say they are unsure anything struck the windscreen of an Amtrak train minutes before a deadly derailment in Philadelphia, in another twist to the investigation as the national network restarted its service to New York.

The first of the victims of the Philadelphia railway crash has been laid to rest as investigators continue to probe why the train was travelling faster than 100mph.

Eco-friendly Cork house is Home of the Year; The dramatic tale of Thomas Kent - the forgotten 1916 Rising patriot; and Tipperary business owner foils robbery with umbrella. These are some of the latest and most read news stories on irishexaminer.com this morning.

Federal investigators have determined that an Amtrak train that crashed in Philadelphia, killing at least eight people, was careening through the city at 170km/h before it ran off the rails along a sharp curve where the speed limit drops to just 80km/h, yet they still don’t know why it was going so fast.

The engineer in a deadly train derailment in Philadelphia does not remember the crash, his lawyer said, complicating the investigation into why the Amtrak passenger train was going more than twice the allowed speed when it shot off a sharp curve.

Federal investigators have said that preliminary data showed an Amtrak train in Philadelphia was travelling at more than 100 miles (160km) per hour, or roughly twice the speed limit, when it derailed, killing seven people and injuring more than 200.

More than 50 people were injured when an Amtrak passenger train collided with a tractor-trailer that an eyewitness said was stuck on the tracks while trying to make a difficult left-hand turn.

A third major winter storm in less than two weeks has inflicted fresh snow - and misery – across parts of the north-eastern United States.

More than 50 Irish immigrants may have been murdered in 1832 in Philadelphia. Bette Browne reports on the excavation of a mass grave to find out what happened in the forgotten massacre

A man accused of plotting with al Qaida members in Iran to derail a train in Canada has rejected the charges and said authorities were basing their conclusions on appearances.

The suspect being hunted in the Boston Marathon bombing is in a boat stored in a Watertown neighbourhood, a law enforcement official says.

Prominent gun rights advocates in the US government are now calling for a national discussion about curbing gun violence - signalling that the Connecticut primary school massacre could be a tipping point in a debate dormant for years.

Life in the US north-eastern states hit by Superstorm Sandy was slowly struggling back to normality for many as bodies of the more than 90 dead continued to be found.

New York City moved closer to resuming its frenetic pace by getting back its vital subways today, three days after a superstorm left neighbouring New Jersey stunned by miles of coastal devastation.

Millions of people across the north-eastern United States were bracing for Hurricane Sandy as the superstorm picked up speed over the Atlantic.

Hurricane Sandy is threatening 50 million people on America's heavily-populated east coast today and forecasters warned that New York could bear the brunt of the one-of-a-kind superstorm.

Like the former president Richard Nixon, Mitt Romney puts his foot in it more often than not. But don’t write him off, says Jack Shafer

At least 13 people have died and three million were left without power after violent storms pummelled the eastern United States.

More than two million people across the eastern US lost power after violent storms and five people died, including a 90-year-old woman asleep in bed when a tree slammed into her home, police have said.

A freak October storm knocked out power to more than 3.1 million homes and businesses across north-east America, with close to 2ft of snow falling in some areas.

An unusually early and powerful snowstorm struck the US East Coast, weighing down or toppling leafy trees and utility lines to knock out power to 2.3 million customers.

The full measure of Hurricane Irene's fury came into focus as the death toll passed 44, while towns in the northern US region of New England battled epic floods and millions were still without electricity.

MILLIONS of Christmas travellers were caught in the wintry grip of a massive blizzard yesterday that brought chaos to air, road and train transit across the eastern United States.

Blizzard conditions have marooned thousands of air, rail and road travellers on the US East Coast, shutting down airports and rail lines for a second day, stranding buses on buried roads and forcing New York subway commuters to spend a cold night in unheated trains.

Blizzard conditions dumped more than a foot of snow in parts of the US north east, stranding thousands of airline, bus and rail passengers, with lashing winds and low visibility also buffeting workers returning to their post-Christmas routines.

A winter storm made travel torturous in north-east America, dropping a thick layer of snow that stranded thousands of airline, train and bus passengers and made motorists think twice about hitting post-Christmas sales.

Stunning works by some of Ireland’s most celebrated artists are on display in Dublin just weeks before going under the hammer.

A PROMINENT politician, especially one known for a certain righteousness, is alleged to be a customer of high-priced call girls. For comics, that’s a hanging curveball over the plate.

US investigators removed data recorders from a train that derailed and burst into flames over a bridge in south-western Pennsylvania as ethanol tanker carriages continued to burn today.

Two freight trains carrying fuel collided head-on and derailed in California today, injuring five train workers who jumped off moments before the crash.

A wily young coyote led dozens of police on foot and in a helicopter on a chase through New York’s Central Park, at one point leaping over an eight-foot fence before finally being captured.

Folk singer Arlo Guthrie rolled into town on “the train they call the City of New Orleans,” to perform a pair of shows to benefit musicians left without instruments and gigs after their city was battered by Hurricane Katrina.

NEW YORK mayor Michael Bloomberg yesterday defended his decision to go public with the threat that terrorists might want to strike the New York subway system, saying it is essential that authorities err on the side of caution when protecting a city of eight million people.

Authorities in New York today closed part of Penn Station as commuters headed to work under the watchful eyes of police after a newly disclosed terror threat against the city's subway system.

A high-speed passenger train collided with a car at a crossing in eastern Connecticut today, killing two and causing major delays on the Northeast rail line.

US police arrested a man following a bomb scare that emptied a Pennsylvania Station and disrupted train and subway services for around an hour.

The terror alert was raised from yellow to orange on the United States’ transport system today as America reacted to the scenes of death and devastation in London.

Californians braced for even more rain today as they struggled to recover from storms that killed at least nine people, triggered mudslides and tornadoes and washed away roads and runways.

A suicidal man parked his off-road vehicle on a California railway line, setting off a crash between two commuter trains that killed at least 11 people in America’s worst train accident in nearly six years.

TRAVEL software group Datalex has reported a continued improvement in bottom-line performance for the first six months of the year to the end of June.