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.

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.

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.