Posted on 11/21/2008 2:02:07 PM PST by calcowgirl
Five passengers are injured as the eastbound commuter train hits the end of a westbound, 102-car freight train pulling onto a siding. The crash raises new rail safety concerns.
November 21, 2008 For the second time in less than three months, a Metrolink train and a freight train heading in opposite directions collided Thursday morning, raising fresh concerns about the commuter rail line's ability to navigate tracks it shares with other carriers.
The Rialto crash was far less serious than the catastrophic head-on collision in September between a Metrolink train and a Union Pacific train in Chatsworth that killed 25.
Thursday's accident occurred about 11:30 a.m. when an eastbound Metrolink train hit the end of a westbound Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway train that was pulling onto a siding from the main track just west of the Rialto station.
Five passengers aboard the Metrolink train were sent to area hospitals with complaints of pain, said Lt. Joe Cirilo of the Rialto Police Department.
It was unclear who was at fault.
Lena Kent, a spokeswoman for Burlington Northern, said her railroad's engineer had been given the go-ahead either by a signal or a Metrolink dispatcher.
"We were cleared to go into the siding," she said. "It had almost cleared the mainline [track] when it was struck."
Metrolink declined to comment other than to say it was investigating what went wrong.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Jesus. Some people need to be fired, this can’t keep happening.
They hit the end of the other train that was going in the opposite direction???
http://www.pe.com/localnews/rivcounty/stories/PE_News_Local_S_metrolink21.426f43d.html
The left front side of Metrolink train 306, pulling four passenger cars with 15 passengers on their way to San Bernardino, scraped the left side of the 96th car of a 102-car freight train on a siding west of Lilac Avenue, west of the Rialto station.
Thanks, it makes sense now.
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