Posted on 09/14/2008 7:39:38 PM PDT by BenLurkin
LOS ANGELES (CBS) ― A Metrolink dispatcher tried to warn the engineer on train No. 111 that he had run a red light, it was reported Sunday.
At least 25 people were killed on the train, which left Union Station in downtown Los Angeles at 3:35 p.m. Friday and crashed head-on into a Union Pacific freight train shortly before 4:23 p.m. in Chatsworth.
Officials said that of the 225 people aboard, 25 died in the crash and 134 were injured, 44 critically.
A Metrolink spokeswoman Saturday took the unusual step of saying the agency was responsible for the crash because the engineer ran a red light and did not stop to let the freight train pass.
"We are deeply sorry and we are totally at a loss, this is a new situation for Metrolink," Denise Tyrrell said. "At this moment we must acknowledge that it was a Metrolink engineer that made the error that caused yesterday's accident."
When the Metrolink train went through the red light, it triggered an alarm at the dispatch center in Pomona and workers tried to warn the engineer, but the crash had apparently just taken place.
A teenager told CBS 2 reporter Kristine Lazar that he received a text message from the engineer, Robert Sanchez, one minute before the crash. . Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger visited the crash site Saturday and tried to reassure commuters that train travel is safer than automobiles. He also expressed sympathy for the victims and their families.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa also went to the crash site and called for more safety measures.
"It seems, to me anyway, that there needs to be some kind of failsafe secondary measure to protect against human error, because two trains on the same track is just unacceptable," the mayor said.
Villaraigosa asked clergy to have a moment of silence for the victims at religious services Sunday and visited some of the victims and their families at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills.
The NTSB has taken over the investigation of the crash. Investigators have recovered data and video event recorders from both trains, which could shed more light on the cause of the collision.
Crews made temporary repairs to the track, and the Metrolink cars were removed from the crash site late Sunday afternoon.
Until the Metrolink track is repaired, a separate agency, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, announced plans to use a "bus bridge" around the crash scene starting Monday.
>Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa also went to the crash site and called for more safety measures.<
whatta doofus!
Did the text cause him to miss the red light?
Another resounding endorsement for super-green public transportation! Just wait ‘til our environmental overlords can engineer a head-on between two super trains at 150 mph. That’ll be real special.
Could very well be the root cause of this accident. It would seem that the engineer got distracted and forgot what he was supposed to do and just reacted and left the station trying to get to track speed. I have to assume that he entered the signal block for the station on a "yellow" signal which is an indication that the next signal may be "red" which is a mandatory stop. I think he forgot and took off as he usually did and blew by the signal protecting the UP train.
When was the last time our illustrious leader the Guv travel on a Metrolink train? Oh, I forgot, he travels by private jet! What a damn hypocrite!
Wife would have been on the next train. Bugged her all week to stay home. She stayed home on friday. Thank you God.
The UP train was on the single track. So it would seem that it would be logical for the Metrolink train to have stopped on the double track to allow the UP train to pass. I can't see how the UP train could be at fault.
DID you see his eyebrows move around when he was being emotional..? HUH?
Yeah. And when my company needed a 300 TON crane to re-arrange things the women needed to go pee-pee inside the building. Those 2 cranes came from Ventura. I drove by there today. They are very loud.
Three possibilities: Drugs. Too busy texting to pay attention to his job or both of the above.
You forgot suicide.
just saying.
So, how did the Metrolink train get onto the single track?
There had to be a track switch where the single track went to double tracks?
It was the MAYOR who called for more safety measures.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger visited the crash site Saturday and tried to reassure commuters that train travel is safer than automobiles.
It was the MAYOR who called for more safety measures.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger visited the crash site Saturday and tried to reassure commuters that train travel is safer than automobiles.
WHAT are you trying to say???????
Curious about an observation: I noted the short length of the sidetrack while watching the news. Seems to me not sufficient in length for the UP freight train, only the few cars of the Metrolink Commuter train would fit that sidetrack.
Testimony from some of the interviews of people familiar with that route whom stated the Commuter train was often sidetracked to allow a freight train to pass. Apparently a common procedure.
Logic tells me the Engineer’s of either trains don’t perform the track switching procedure, therefore it seems to me that there was a failure within the system to sidetrack that Metrolink train.
Somebody was responsible to initiate the sidetracking mechanism for the Commuter train IMO. Who?
Just a thought: Apparently the Engineer of the Commuter train was text messaging at an inopportune moment just immediately prior to the accident. Had he seen the red light, he could have stopped the train..., but could he have stopped tons of steel moving forward with great inertia in time, and perhaps reversed his direction to avoid an accident? The train was IMO supposed to be parked on the sidetrack.
The Commuter Rail service Management seems too eager to place the blame on the Engineer whom cannot defend himself. He’s dead, along with many others.
I believe there is much more than meets the eye on this one. Somebody screwed up big time, and it’s going to cost some big bucks in law suits.
Can somebody reasonably explain how track sharing between the UPRR owners of the track and the lessee Metrolink work? It would be interesting to know whom is responsible for what in their agreements.
Buddy B
On the local ABC News it was stated that switch track had been bent by the Metrolink. That may be what they were talking about. I don’t ride that train. I do think there is also some double track after the station, but I may be wrong.
Metrolink said that there were two yellows before the red. Evidently the engineer did confirm seeing one of the yellows. He may have confirmed the other yellow, but definitely did not confirm the red. The report on ABC was somewhat fuzzy if he confirmed the second yellow. I may have just missed what may have been a clear report on ABC regarding the second yellow.
I was contemplating a health problem, but it looks like he just got sidetracked, doing something that is against Metrolink policy.
What a shame.
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