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Remodeled German system possibly linked to crash A major Chinese newspaper has reported that an automatic control system blamed for Saturday's fatal train crash was a Chinese remodeled version based on German technology. The government's investigation team on Thursday released initial results of its probe into the crash between 2 high-speed trains that occurred in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province. The team said lights at a station near the crash site failed to change from green to red after lightning knocked out power to one of the trains. It blamed the problem on a design flaw in the signaling equipment. It also...

Bereaved families criticize Beijing's 'incentive money' BY ATSUSHI OKUDERA CORRESPONDENT WENZHOU, China--Attempts by the Chinese government to quickly settle compensation matters with victims of the July 23 train collision on its high-speed railway have triggered another round of criticism from the bereaved families. An official with the Railways Ministry said July 26 that some bereaved families had agreed to compensation totaling 500,000 yuan (6.25 million yen, or $78,800). However, because the offer included what was described as "incentive money" to encourage families to reach an early agreement, some families complained that the government was placing too low a priority on...

Manual stalled evacuation of smoke-filled Hokkaido train The Yomiuri Shimbun SAPPORO--The evacuation of a smoke-filled passenger train in a Hokkaido tunnel Friday night was delayed by a company requirement that fires be visually confirmed before action can be taken, it has been learned. The accident occurred on the JR Sekisho Line of Hokkaido Railway Co. (JR Hokkaido) in Shimukappumura. After its fifth car derailed and apparently caught fire, the Super Ozora No. 14 express train made an emergency stop in the 685-meter-long Daiichi Niniu tunnel Friday night. JR Hokkaido's operation manual requires that train staff visually confirm a fire before...

A TRAIN crash in central Indonesia today killed at least 43 people and injured dozens, many of them critically... The toll was expected to rise with some bodies still trapped in the mangled wreckage. Meanwhile, another passenger train crashed in the town of Solo at about 4am, said Transportation Ministry spokesman Bambang Ervan, adding data was still being collected about casualties.

FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) — Officials say a Washington Metro subway train crashed into the back of another at a rail yard, injuring three workers. The Metro transit agency says injuries were minor and not life-threatening. No passengers were on board when the crash occurred at about 4:30 a.m. Sunday. Metro says a six-car train was returning to the West Falls Church Rail Yard in northern Virginia when it rear-ended a parked six-car train. Two workers were cleaning the parked train to get it ready for service.

At least 29 passengers were killed and about 75 were injured when the Nevsky Express train from Moscow to St. Petersburg derailed, an emergencies ministry source said Saturday. It was not immediately clear what caused the accident. Just prior to the accident, the train driver had applied the brakes. The last four cars out of thirteen were involved from train #166 at 18:34 GMT Moscow time. A mobile field hospital was being flown to the accident site, near Bologoye, 200 miles from Moscow, to render assistance to injured passengers. Ambulances, Federal Security Service officers, law enforcement, emergency services and railroad...

Here is shocking video from a camera on the front of an Amtrak train in Michigan that collided with a car carrying five teenagers on July 9. The car reportedly went around warning barriers and drove right into the path of the train. All five passengers were killed. The video shows the collision. You can see the car dart right into the path of the train, and then you can hear the train's brakes stopping the train. You cannot see the car stuck to the front of the train in the video, but at the 2:25 mark of the video,...

CANTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (July 9) - An Amtrak passenger train carrying about 170 people struck a car that had skirted a gate at a road crossing near Detroit on Thursday, killing all five people in the sedan, authorities said. The crossing has a gate and flashing lights that apparently were working when the car approached, said Sgt. Mark Gajeski, a police spokesman. Based on witness accounts, "it looks like they probably did go around the arm. They went around the gate," Gajeski said.

Ex-Chinese leader may be on train involved in collision - HK rights centre 399 ¦r 2009 ¦~ 6 ¤ë 29 ¤é 16:07 BBC Monitoring Newsfile BBCMNF ­^¤å (c) 2009 The British Broadcasting Corporation. All Rights Reserved. No material may be reproduced except with the express permission of The British Broadcasting Corporation. Text of report by Hong Kong Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy on 29 June [Report: "Train Collision in Hunan's Chenzhou; Jiang Zemin May Be on Board"] As this centre has learned, at 0240 this morning [1840 gmt 28 June], train number K9017 going from Changsha to Shenzhen...

A key circuit on the train track near Monday's derailment in Washington, D.C., was apparently not operating as it should have been, raising the possibility that the Metro train that crashed into another one may not have known to slow down, accident investigators said today. Investigators tested six circuits between the two stations where the crash occurred. Five of those performed as expected, according to National Transportation Safety Board investigator Deborah Hersman. Such circuits let trains know how fast to go and provide them with information about whether there's another train up ahead. But one circuit showed what Hersman described...

WASHINGTON - Maj. Gen. David F. Wherley Jr., retired commanding general of the D.C. National Guard, and his wife, Ann, were among those killed in the collision of two Metro trains. *snip* especially during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. That time saw the changing of the D.C. National Guard from weekend warriors to Army troops performing the duties of enlisted soldiers in battle. Wherley worked on deployment and returning ceremonies for Guard troops, funding for tuition for Guard members, and after school activities conducted by the D.C. National Guard. *snip*

WASHINGTON – Investigators looking into the deadly crash of two Metro transit trains focused Tuesday on why a computerized system failed to halt an oncoming train, and why the train failed to stop even though the emergency brake was pressed. At the time of the crash, the train was also operating in automatic mode, meaning it was controlled primarily by computer. In that mode, the operator's main job is to open and close the doors and respond in case of an emergency. Debbie Hersman, an investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board, said it was unclear if the emergency brake...

CNN producer Vito Maggiolo saying "one train on top of each other."

WASHINGTON - Metro confirms two trains have collided on the Red Line between the Takoma and Fort Totten stations. It happened close to the Fort Totten station, a Metro spokesperson said. D.C. Fire and EMS spokesman Alan Etter said one train was on top of the other train. The number of injuries and the extent of the injuries could not be immediately confirmed. Mass casualty units were called to the scene.

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- Friday's crash involving a MARC train and a pregnant driver who got caught crossing the railroad tracks prompted authorities to remind drivers never to attempt to cross tracks unless there already is sufficient room between the crossing and the next vehicle on the other side of the tracks. Cemille Valencia's car was struck after the gates came down on her car. She said traffic was moving along at a steady pace but just stopped suddenly, leaving her stuck on the tracks at Randolph Road in Rockville. The conductor tried to stop, but it was too late, and...

Disturbing details are emerging from that train crash in California: Engineer Robert Sanchez called back to the conductor that the first signal was flashing yellow … and then no other communications. The train would then run two more lights, a solid yellow and a red signal … never did the train slow and never did the engineer or the conductor pull the emergency brake. The railroad investigators are blown away that, 1.) the engineer blew thru all the signals and the switch (I am told you’d either have to do it on purpose or be disabled); and, 2.) that the...

A freight engineer who ran past two warning signals most likely caused the head-on crash with a Metrolink commuter train that killed two passengers and injured hundreds of others. Officials from the NTSB have ruled out brake or other mechanical failure, track problems and signal malfunctions. Two miles from the site of the collision a yellow light signaled to the engineer that he should slow to 30 mph. But NTSB investigators said the Santa Fe freight engineer appeared to ignore or miss the light. The train picked up speed to about 48 mph. “He did not slow the train at...

Metro blue line just hit a bus, 15 injured. Since trains cannot get off their track, how come the bus was on the train tracks.

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Those who knew Robert M. Sanchez say the Metrolink engineer led a solitary life in recent years and was intensely private, sharing little about a past that included tragedy and run-ins with the law. Sanchez died Friday at the helm of a Metrolink train after apparently failing to stop at a signal near Chatsworth and colliding with an oncoming Union Pacific train. The crash, the worst in modern California history, killed 24 others and injured 135. Investigators on Tuesday said they had ruled out train and track failure in the accident, and are close to ruling out signal failure. They...