Sorry to hear of this mate. I read it was the trains first run on this route, does that point to a miscalculation or similar do you think?
No idea-they haven't even confirmed that the actual derailment happened on the new tracks put it in place. It also happened so close to the beginning of the route. There was already a Portland to Seattle Amtrak in place, one that I've used before.
Of course, you have inspectors and project partners stating to the media that "hundreds" of safety checks were performed. I don't doubt that they were, but it's so disheartening and tragic to have it happen on the first day of service.
It also might add more weight to arguments in more rural areas of Washington that public transportation isn't needed or simply government overspending-those arguments will point to this loss of life as a reason not to build the infrastructure.