Glendale train crash

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Glendale train crash
Aftermath of the train crash
Details
Date and time: 6:03, January 26, 2005
Location: Los Angelos County, California
Rail line: Coast Line (UP)
Cause vehicle placed on track, alleged deliberate sabotage
Statistics
Deaths: 11
Lists of rail accidents

The Glendale train crash was the deadliest incident in the history of Metrolink, the commuter railroad in the Los Angeles, California, area. Eleven people died in the January 26, 2005 incident at 6:03 AM PST next to a Costco warehouse store on the Glendale-Los Angeles boundary in an industrial area, north of downtown Los Angeles. Two Metrolink passenger trains and a Union Pacific freight train were involved in the collision, which occurred about half a mile south of downtown Glendale. Both passenger trains were double-deck commuter trains, one northbound on the Antelope Valley Line from Los Angeles Union Station, the other southbound on the Ventura County Line into the same station. One train overturned, and the other caught fire.

The incident is notable for its magnitude, involving two passenger trains, a freight train, and a Jeep Grand Cherokee abandoned on the tracks by Juan Manuel Alvarez. Authorities initially said Alvarez was planning to commit suicide and charged him with 11 counts of murder with "special circumstances." Police say recent investigations indicate Alvarez may have intended to cause the crash without committing suicide. Authorities have filed additional charges against him for murder with intent.

Contents

[edit] Background

Although Southern California is known for its automobile-dependent population, frequent traffic jams and relatively high gasoline prices make rail travel an attractive alternative, at least for those working in downtown Los Angeles. In the early morning rush hour period, the northbound train (leaving Los Angeles) normally carries 30–50 passengers; the southbound train (entering Los Angeles) normally has 200–250 people on board.

The freight train involved in the accident was "tied up" (parked), waiting its turn to deliver track ballast to repair tracks on the former Southern Pacific Railroad's Coast Line (so called because it runs along California's coast from Ventura County through Santa Barbara to San Luis Obispo) washed out by major January 2005 rainstorms.

The next day, police prevented a similar incident in Irvine, California, where a suicidal man parked his car on Metrolink tracks. He drove away from the tracks when police arrived, however, and they were able to arrest him, preventing another disaster from occurring.

Regular Metrolink passenger service was restored through the accident scene on Monday, January 31, 2005.

[edit] Investigation

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A National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) team is investigating the crash. The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen's (BLET) Safety Task Force is assisting the NTSB. The Glendale Police Department is leading the criminal investigation, assisted by the Union Pacific Police Department, and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

Initial reports suggest that the southbound Metrolink train hit the parked Jeep on a grade crossing along Chevy Chase Drive just west of San Fernando Road (map), causing that train to derail. Cars from the derailed train jackknifed, hitting both the locomotive of the stationary freight train and sideswiping the rear of the moving northbound passenger train. This caused the rear cars of the northbound train to derail, and at least one car rolled over onto its side. A fire, involving one or more passenger cars, was caused by spilled diesel fuel.

The root cause of the accident is attributed to the driver of the automobile, Juan Manuel Alvarez of Compton, who drove his vehicle onto the tracks while attempting to commit suicide. Having slashed his wrists and stabbed himself repeatedly in the chest, he parked his car on the tracks to finish the attempt. However, Alvarez changed his mind and attempted to leave the railroad tracks. Because he was unable to dislodge his vehicle from the rain-soaked gravel and slick rails, he abandoned the vehicle moments before the crowded train approached. (There is some speculation that Alvarez may have inflicted the wounds on himself after the crash, based on some early reports by witnesses). Both this causation and the end result have many similarities to that of the Ufton Nervet rail crash in the United Kingdom, which occurred only three months previously, although in that case the driver of the car stayed in the vehicle and was killed.

Some early rumors of the incident being a terrorist attack have been dismissed, as no connections to any terrorist organization exist with the suspect. Links to Chicano street gangs were also dismissed.

Police on the scene found Alvarez wandering the streets repeating "I'm sorry"; they remanded him into custody after determining that it was his vehicle parked on the tracks. Facing 11 counts of murder, he pleaded not guilty at his arraignment on February 15, 2005. Prosecutors have stated that they may seek the death penalty. The judge ordered that he remain in custody without bail until a hearing scheduled for March 16, 2005 to determine if there is enough evidence to try him on these charges.

On Friday, August 26, 2005, prosecutors officially announced that they would seek the death penalty against Alvarez, and were prepared to use a rarely cited "train wrecking" statute in California law, even though trains rarely derail when they hit a car. [1]

[edit] Reaction

The train wreck called intense attention to the train configuration. Metrolink trains are pushed from the back by the locomotive when returning to Los Angeles Union Station; the first car is a special passenger car with controls for an engineer at the end. The rear-pushed configuration means that the engine does not need to be swapped; elaborate turnarounds are not needed to reverse the engine's direction. There was severe criticism that this rear-pushed configuration made the accident worse: many people claimed that if the heavier engine were in front, the train would not have jackknifed and cause the second train to derail. (In this way it was similar to the Selby rail crash in the United Kingdom.) Immediately following the accident, Metrolink temporarily roped off the first cars in all of their trains; passengers sat starting in the second car. Currently, the first seating section of these cars are roped off when travelling in the "push" configuration, but passengers can sit in the remaining sections. As of 2007, Metrolink now allows passengers to sit in the first car when in "push mode" Passengers are no longer able to sit in the forward most section of the car where the driver is. That area remains roped off.

The D.A.'s quick charge of murder was also criticized by some who called it hasty and inappropriate. While Alvarez did park his car, he also attempted to move it out, and some people felt that the charge of manslaughter would have been more appropriate to this case.

The incident has inspired a few television series episodes. A May 2005 episode of Law & Order titled "Locomotion" featured a train that hit an SUV and the subsequent investigation.[1] A June 2005 episode of Strong Medicine contained a storyline that referenced the train wreck.

[edit] Casualties

A total of 11 passengers were killed in the collision. Between 100 and 200 people were injured. In terms of casualties, the crash had the same death toll as the March 15, 1999 Bourbonnais train accident, making it the deadliest U.S. train crash in almost six years.

Fatalities in this accident were:

In remembrance of the accident, all Metrolink train engineers were asked to sound their trains' horns at 12:01 Pacific Time, February 2, 2005, and the former Control Point Metro (milepost 3.3 on the Metrolink River Subdivision) was renamed Control Point Ormiston in memory of the conductor who was killed instantly.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Law & Order: Locomotion (2005). IMDB.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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