Engineer in Philadelphia derailment worked for Caltrain

Emergency personnel walk near the scene of a deadly train wreck, Wednesday, May 13, 2015, in Philadelphia. Federal investigators arrived Wednesday to determine why an Amtrak train jumped the tracks in Tuesday night's fatal accident. (AP Photo/Mel Evans) less Emergency personnel walk near the scene of a deadly train wreck, Wednesday, May 13, 2015, in Philadelphia. Federal investigators arrived Wednesday to determine why an Amtrak train jumped the tracks in Tuesday ... more Photo: Mel Evans / Associated Press Photo: Mel Evans / Associated Press Image 1 of / 48 Caption Close Engineer in Philadelphia derailment worked for Caltrain 1 / 48 Back to Gallery

The engineer who was driving an Amtrak train that derailed in Philadelphia on Tuesday night, killing at least seven and injuring more than 200 others, worked as an engineer for Caltrain when the agency contracted with Amtrak, officials said.

Brandon Bostian, identified as the engineer of the Washington-to-New York train by NBC News, worked for Amtrak in the Bay Area sometime between 2010 and 2011, trained in Oakland and worked as an engineer aboard Caltrain, the transit agency that operates commuter trains along the peninsula.

While a spokeswoman for Caltrain confirmed that Bostian did indeed do contract work aboard their trains, she said that because he was an Amtrak employee, the agency did not have access to his personnel records.

An Amtrak spokeswoman said that she could not release any information about passengers or crew on the train that derailed.

According to his LinkedIn page, Bostian received his bachelor’s degree in business administration and management from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 2006 and began working for Amtrak as a conductor soon after that. In 2010, he moved into his role as an engineer.

The cause of the crash is under investigation, but the train was going more than 100 mph when it crashed, well above the 80 mph speed limit just before the bend where the train went off the tracks, Robert Sumwalt, of the National Transportation Safety Board, told the Associated Press.

Bostian allegedly refused to give a statement to law enforcement officials and left a police precinct with a lawyer, but Sumwalt said that, while federal investigators are eager to speak with him, he would be given a few days to recover from the accident, according to the Associated Press.

“This person has gone through a very traumatic event, and we want to give him an opportunity to convalesce for a day or so before we interview him. But that is certainly a high priority for us, to interview the train crew,” Sumwalt said

Kale Williams is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: kwilliams@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @sfkale