I think there's a difference between speculation and trying as best as possible to find out what happened. This is why we have news reports. Certainly reporters get things wrong, but people who want to be well-informed have a right, if not a responsibility, to get as accurate a picture as they can of important events. There are at least two sides to every story, but that doesn't mean we can;'t try to find out what happened.

What I can read in various reports is that signals in the area were out of service due to maintainers at work. The conductor was in the cab to copy warrants. The train was routed onto a siding, where it struck a train that had been tied down. What operating rules applied here? What was the maximum allowable speed for Amtrak in these circumstances?

These are not speculative questions. There is, it seems to me, a specific rule that applies in these circumstances, and a clear answer to these questions should be available.