2008 Chatsworth train collision
 | This article documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses, and initial news reports may be unreliable. The latest updates to this article may not reflect the most current information. (September 2008) |
| 2008 Chatsworth train collision | |
|---|---|
| File:Chatsworth Train Collision 20080913-022324.jpg Rescue workers in front of the Metrolink locomotive laying on its side after penetrating the lead passenger car (left) | |
 | |
| Details | |
| Date | September 12, 2008 4:23 PM (11:23 PM UTC) |
| Location | Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California 34°16′19″N 118°36′5″W / 34.27194°N 118.60139°W |
| Line | Union Pacific Coast Line |
| Cause | Engineer error[1] |
| Statistics | |
| Trains | Metrolink passenger train Union Pacific freight train |
| Deaths | 24 |
| Injured | 135[2] |
The 2008 Chatsworth train collision was a railroad head-on collision between a Union Pacific freight train and a Metrolink commuter rail train. It occured on September 12 at 16:23 PDT (23:23 UTC) in the Chatsworth district of Los Angeles, California in the United States. The scene of the accident was a curved section of single track on the Metrolink Ventura County Line near a 500-foot-long (150-meter-long) tunnel just east of Stoney Point. The collision is the deadliest railway accident in the United States since the Big Bayou Canot train disaster in 1993.
Metrolink commuter train 111, consisting of a locomotive pulling three cars and carrying 222 people, left Union Station in downtown Los Angeles at 3:35 pm, and was traveling westbound to Moorpark. It had just left the Chatsworth station when it collided head-on with an eastbound Union Pacific freight train near Heatherlee Lane and Endora Avenue in the Chatsworth area of the San Fernando Valley.[3] The Metrolink locomotive telescoped into the passenger compartment of the leading passenger car and caught fire.[4] Three locomotives, the leading Metrolink passenger car, and seven freight cars were derailed. The Metrolink locomotive, passenger car and the first of two Union Pacific locomotives fell on their sides.[5]
The trains collided on the Metrolink Ventura County Line, part of the Coast Line originally constructed by the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1900. Both trains were on the same section of single track that runs between the Chatsworth Station and the Santa Susana Pass, where the line returns to double track again running through the Simi Valley.[6] Two tunnels under the pass are only wide enough to support a single track, and it would be very costly to widen them.[6] The railway signal system is designed to ensure that trains wait on the double track section while a train is proceeding in the other direction on the single track. The signal system was upgraded in the 1990s to support Metrolink commuter rail services, and Richard Stanger, the executive director of Metrolink in its infant years from 1991 to 1998, said the system had functioned without trouble in the past.[6] The Metrolink train would normally wait until the Union Pacific freight train passed before proceeding.[7]
The collision occurred after the Metrolink passenger train's engineer apparently failed to obey a red, stop signal that indicated it was not safe to proceed into the single track section.[8] Both trains were reported to be moving toward each other at the time of the collision. At least one passenger on the Metrolink train reported seeing the freight train just moments before impact, coming around the curve in the track where the collicion occurred, with insufficient time to stop.[2] The conductor of the passenger train, who was in the rear car and was injured in the accident, estimated that his train was travelling at 40 miles per hour (65 kilometers per hour) before it suddenly came to a dead stop after the collision.[2]
Casualties
At least 24 people have been reported killed in the wreck, and the death toll is expected to increase once rescue workers reach victims located in the lower section of the lead double-deck passenger car. A total of 135 were reported injured, 47 of them critically.[4] Los Angeles City Fire captain Steve Ruda reported that the high number of critically injured passengers taxed the area's emergency response capabilities, and patients were distributed to every trauma center in Los Angeles County.[7]
Austin Walbridge, a train passenger, told a TV news reporter that the interior of the train was "bloody, a mess. Just a disaster. It was horrible."[7] One off-duty Los Angeles Police Department officer was among the confirmed deaths, as was the Metrolink engineer,[2] an employee of Veolia Transportation.[9][10]
Investigation
Metrolink spokeswoman Denise Tyrrell disclosed the following morning that a preliminary investigation showed the engineer of the Metrolink passenger train, an employee of a Metrolink subcontractor, failed to stop his train for a red railway signal, which indicated his train did not have permission to proceed. She was quoted as saying, “We don't know how the error happened, but this is what we believe happened. We believe it was our engineer who failed to stop at the signal.”[8]
The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the official invesitigation to determine the probable cause, but NTSB officials had not commented on the accident prior to the Metrolink statement. In a subsequent press conference at the scene on the day after the accident, an NTSB official said they had recovered and would be studying the data from the train event recorders. The official said they would be collecting other evidence and interviewing witnesses to try to officially report on why the accident happened within a year's time. The Federal Railroad Administration will also investigate to determine if any federal safety regulations were violated.
See also
- Glendale train crash – the second deadliest Metrolink accident
External links
References
- ^ Melago, Carrie (2008-09-13). "Catastrophic Ca. train wreck caused when Metrolink engineer failed to stop, say rail officials". Daily News (New York). Retrieved 2008-09-13.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ a b c d Gold, Scott; Pierson, David; Winton, Richard (2008-09-12). "At least 15 reported dead as Metrolink cars crash into freight train". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008-09-12.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Metrolink Train Collides with Freight Train in L.A." Los Angeles Business Journal. 2008-09-13. Retrieved 2008-09-12.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ a b "Commuters killed in head-on train crash". KABC-TV. 2008-09-12. Retrieved 2008-09-12.
- ^ "Slideshow: Metrolink train crash". KABC-TV. 2008-09-12. Retrieved 2008-09-12.
- ^ a b c Hymon, Steve. "Metrolink: A system forged from freight lines". Bottleneck Blog. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008-09-13.
- ^ a b c "Death toll rises to 23 in train crash near LA: governor". AFP via Google News. 2008-09-13. Retrieved 2008-09-13.
- ^ a b Flaccus, Gillian. "Metrolink: Commuter train engineer failed to stop". Associated Press via The San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 2008-09-13.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Metrolink spokesperson Denise Tyrell, 2008-09-12
- ^ Landsberg, Mitchell; Rubin, Joel; Therolf, Garrett (2008-09-13). "Metrolink train crash: 18th victim found in rubble in Chatsworth". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008-09-13.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)