Train Accidents Help
Chatsworth Train Crash
On September 12, 2008, a Metrolink commuter train traveling through Chatsworth from Los Angeles collided head-on with a freight train. At least 25 people were killed and 135 people were injured in the Chatsworth train crash, making it the country’s deadliest railroad accident in the last 15 years.
The train crash in Chatsworth occurred at the west end of the San Fernando Valley, along a stretch of track where the Metrolink train usually waits on a side rail for the freight train to pass by. According to a preliminary investigation, the Metrolink train failed to stop at four warning lights as it approached the freight train.
A spokeswoman from Metrolink said that the engineer controlling the train failed to stop at a red light warning him of the oncoming freight train, “and that was the cause of the accident.” A preliminary investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board indicates that the train was traveling faster than the permitted speed at the time of the crash, and that the engineer did not apply his brakes before colliding with the oncoming freight train.
The NTSB is currently investigating reports that the Metrolink engineer may have been sending a text message from his cell phone moments before the Chatsworth train wreck occurred. Two local TV stations have reported that a teenage train enthusiast received a text message from the engineer which had been sent about one minute before the train crash in Chatsworth. Metrolink regulations prohibit engineers from using cell phones or other electronic devices while they are driving a train.
At least 222 people were traveling on the Metrolink train at the time of the Chatsworth train crash, including the engineer and conductor of the train. Of the 135 people injured during the train accident, at least 81 were transported to the hospital in serious or critical condition. Witnesses described many of these patients as having crush injuries, which can include fractures, lacerations or damage to the body tissues below the skin.
Police have set up a unification center at the Chatsworth High School in order to provide information to people who believe that they may have had friends or loved ones on the train. The family of one of the victims has announced that they are planning to file a train accident lawsuit against Metrolink for the Chatsworth train crash.
