Gold Line crash injures 7

Here's the latest on the Gold Line crash in Northeast L.A.:

A crash between a rush-hour commuter train and a pickup truck north of downtown Tuesday injured at least seven people, authorities said. The crash in Highland Park occurred just before 8 a.m. Tuesday. The truck was pinned between the MTA train and a concrete pillar. The train crushed part of the truck bed. The driver was briefly trapped but was conscious and alert when he was cut free and taken to a hospital. About 50 people were on the train. (AP)

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Comments

[Tom A.]

And Mark, boys and girls, is a prime example of why the San Gabriel Valley consistently gets the shaft when it comes time to hand out transportation funding. Oh, we don't matter, we always screw up every chance we get, blah, blah... What a load of crap. It's bad enough our so-called leaders approach transportation planning from the perspective of every region of the county other than the SGV, but do their constituents really have to mirror this kind of selfish thinking?
Either stop pretending we don't exist and/or don't matter, or we can form our own breakaway county to control our own destiny (not to mention how our tax dollars are spent). Do you really want us to take the millions we funnel into the county coffers every year for ourselves? Choose wisely...

[Richard H]

While Bottleneck blog went on sabbatical on Friday, September 14, 2007 for it's three day break, a rival blog for an unnamed L.A. Area newspaper posted this:

"Authorities issued a whopping 600 citations to pedestrians and motorists Friday morning during a clamp down of illegal train track crossing along Metro and Metrolink tracks.

"Despite ringing bells and flashing lights, some people cross the tracks when trains are coming, said Jose Ubaldo, Metro spokesman.

""People think it's a game," he said.

"It all happened along tracks for the Blue Line and Union Pacific trains that run parallel from downtown Los Angeles to around Metro's Rosa Parks Station in Wilmington, a transfer point between the Blue and Green lines.

"Tickets for each offence costs $177 and were issued by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, Union Pacific Police Department and Metro security staff, Ubaldo said."

( http://www.insidesocal.com/theride/2007/09/about_600_ticketed_friday_for.html )

[joqui]

Metro rail should never compete with surface traffic. It is myopic & idiotic to pressume that building a metro rail system on the cheap would outweigh the long term repercussions. Nevertheless, this is what you get when timid political symbolism is allowed to roam rampant in the local government decision making process.

[joqui]

Metro rail systems should never compete with surface traffic. It is the miopic & idiotic to presume that building a system on the cheap would outweigh the long term repercussions. It is high time we step away from the absurdity of political symbolism over substance, we cannot afford their far reaching effects.

[Mark G]

See, Metro builds half-$#@ rail projects on the cheap and in the wrong places and nobody is happy. Of course, the usual five MTA apologists always respond. It is not that the Gold Line goes too slowly in Highland Park, it is that MTA is myopic and built a line along the old right of way. Sure, would love to drive down residential streets at 75 MPH on my way home..should I complain about this? I know, I know, "stay the course", the extension will turn the Gold Line around. Can you believe people now suggest going back and making the train below-grade! What a waste.

[m]

Just this morning I saw another car that thought they could beat the signals or else just didn't understand that you are not supposed to STOP at a light in the intersection, this time near the Gold Line Mission station. The car was halfway into the intersection and the guard arm was sitting on top of the car. This sight is more common than what would make one comfortable, especially at this particular intersection and during the same week that a crash happened nearby on the Gold Line.

[Ryan]

1) Good luck getting any money from the Idiot Truck driver. He's probably broke. Metro likely has some sort of liability insurance so they wouldn't pay the damages anyway.
2) If there were guard rails, the truck wouldn't be able to beat the train unless he drove through the rails as well
3) He was probably trying to beat the train since it goes 5mph through that section. If the train went faster, then the truck wouldnt have tried to beat it.
4) This Glendale metrolink lawsuit will probably set a precedent for train crash liability cases. Watch what happens...

[Ken Alpern]

For all the knuckleheads that again blame Metro for this sort of crash, please grow up and realize that the bells and lights were ignored here, and that this is the equivalent of running a red light.

People who run red lights and cause accidents are as guilty as those who run rail crossing lights and bells and cause accidents like this. Just as we're talking about increasing fines for those who inappropriately use carpool lanes, we should also create $500 or even $1000 fines for people who do the same for the Gold Line or any other line.

This clown knew what he was doing and was guilty of causing this accident--he and he alone should pay all criminal and civil penalties for causing this, and he and he alone should be held responsible for this utterly-avoidable accident.

[Tom A.]

RB: Exactly.

Also, anyone else find it ironic that despite all the kicking and screaming from the neighborhood groups when the line was built that made the trains crawl down the center of Marmion at a pace not significantly faster than walking (and often having to stop at traffic lights), an accident like this still happened?

If and when the MTA acquire the money/initiative/cajones to address this bottleneck that probably adds as much as ten minutes to a trip, I think they'd be wise to rebuild the section as a "cut-and-cover" subway. That way the residents of Whine Country, I mean, Highland Park would have a nice wide boulevard and the trains wouldn't have to worry about running over kids or drivers who feel they're too important to stop and wait for a train to cross and could thus haul tail as they please.

Maybe it could be financed by levying a parcel tax on residents living along the corridor? After all, it was their selfishness that created this mess (transferring to a bus on Figueroa for the trip between the Highland Park and Southwest Museum stations might actually be quicker in some instances), so shouldn't they be the ones to clean it up? Just my $0.02.

[John M]

It's folly to think that the MTA and the Gold Line design-build predecessor thought that an above-ground or at-grade solution would work, especially after the MTA's experience with the Death Train (Blue Line).

I used to live on the top of Avenue 53 between Monte Vista and York and crossed Avenue 52 at Marmion Way almost every day. I used to be amazed that the big LA-to-Chicago Amtrak train would travel this stretch of track. A few years later, the right-of-way was converted into a rapid transit line! As if one passenger train per day in each direction wasn't dangerous enough for the residents there.

It's the same way in Pasadena between Raymond and the Arroyo. At least the intersections are well-gated there.

The Gold Line is worth a do-over if it's going to be extended to Ontario Airport.

[RB]

"The passengers that were injured should sue Metro for negligence."

That's all we need, another law suit that the MTA has to defend when it should be using the money to build better lines. The injured passengers of the Gold Line should sue the idiot truck driver who was trying to beat the train through the intersection.

[Alan Cummings]

Is the Gold Line up and running after yesterday's crash (9/11/07)?

[Alan Cummings]

Is the Gold Line up and running after yesterday's crash (9/11/07)?

[RB]

I bet the driver of the truck was talking on the cell phone.

[Ryan]

It makes ZERO sense that there are no guard arms in this section of the Gold Line. Hello? Metro? Where are your brains??
The passengers that were injured should sue Metro for negligence.

[m]

any info on when the gold line will be running as usual again? this morning people had to get off at southwest museum station and take a bus or walk to highland park to continue their commute.