Man dies who was struck by Blue Line train

The Blue Line light rail between Los Angeles and Long Beach has claimed its 91st victim since the train opened in 1990. The 54-year-old man who was hit by a train Saturday has died of his injuries, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Officials think the death may have been a suicide.

In case you missed it, here's the story that ran in the paper Sunday:

By Jia-Rui Chong, Chong is a Times staff writer.

A 54-year-old man was hit Saturday evening by a Blue Line Metro train in the same area of downtown Los Angeles where another Blue Line train hit a vehicle earlier in the day.

Witnesses said they saw the man step in front of the southbound train about 5 p.m., near where the train goes beneath the Santa Monica Freeway, said Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey. Nothing was known about the man's possible motivation.

The man was taken to California Hospital Medical Center in critical condition with multiple fractures and contusions, Humphrey said. No other people were injured.

The collision with the car occurred about 2:30 p.m., just south of the station at Pico Boulevard and Flower Street, where the light rail runs at street level, said Metro spokesman Rick Jager. The vehicle got in front of the train and sustained minor damage, but there were no injuries, he said.

Jager said that part of the track has not been problematic in the past and the two accidents on Saturday were coincidental.

"It's an unfortunate situation. But our trains are safe," he said. "The trains have the right of way. People have to pay attention out there."

--Steve Hymon

Blue Line versus bus crash update

Marc Littman, an MTA spokesman, said the agency's internal investigation was continuing into the collision Friday morning between a bus and a Blue Line train on Washington Boulevard that slightly injured 15 people on the train.

Littman said that videotapes from cameras in front of the train and bus were being reviewed and that the MTA had 60 days to complete its investigation. The bus, he said, had been in the shop for maintenance and was being road-tested by a mechanic. The Los Angeles Police Department's central traffic office is also investigating, according to the LAPD media office.

--Steve Hymon

A few more details on Blue Line crash

My colleague Francisco Vara-Orta is working the Blue Line crash. Here's the top of his update on the crash, soon to post to The Times' home page, with a few new details:

A Metro Blue Line train collided with a Metro bus in downtown Los Angeles this morning, causing minor injuries to 15 people, authorities said.

The collision, which occurred near Washington Boulevard and Griffith Avenue, was reported about 6:15 a.m. as the Blue Line train was traveling south to Long Beach, said Officer Ana Aguirre of the Los Angeles Police Department.

Paramedics have taken 15 people with “just bumps and bruises,” to area hospitals, said d’Lisa Davies, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Fire Department. Officials initially reported that seven to 13 people had been injured.

The bus was not carrying any passengers. All the injuries were to people on the three-car Blue Line train, including the operator, said Brian Humphrey, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department. The collision caused the train to derail, but it remained upright, he said.

(correction: an earlier version of this post said the Blue Line train was six cars long.)

--Francisco VaraOrta

BLUE LINE CRASH UPDATE: Metro (the MTA) just emailed to say that full service between Long Beach and the end-of-the-line in downtown Los Angeles has been restored.

Blue Line crash update

Just got this email from Marc Littman, Metro's chief spokesman:

"We're still investigating. The bus turned in front of the train. Fortunately, the bus was out of service and had no passengers. We're hearing that 15 passengers on the train claimed injuries but they appear to be minor. Train should be cleared in about half an hour. In the
meantime, we have a bus bridge shuttling passengers between Grand and Washington Blue Line stations. Train service between Long Beach Transit Mall and Washington Station is operating and also train service from Seventh & Metro to Grand Station."

One note: authorities told The Times in the past hour that 13 passengers received minor injuries and that none had been transported to the hospital.

--Steve Hymon

Blue Line's safety record

By coincidence, I had just asked Metro (the MTA) for the latest accident numbers on the Blue Line. These are the stats that Metro's press office emailed me Wednesday afternoon and the text is taken straight from my email:

Total Metro Blue Line Fatalities since July 1990-------  90   (Note, 20 of these fatalities have been deemed suicides)

Train vs. vehicle fatalities -----  26

Train vs. Ped. Fatalities -------  64

No fatalities reported on board Metro Rail trains as a result of an accident. No train vs. train accident reported.

Accident rate for FY08 for the Metro Blue Line is 1.71 per 100,000 miles i.e. 29 accidents over 1,692,591 train miles traveled.

Total # of incidents/accidents on the Metro Blue Line since July 1990 ----- 821

Transit vs. Vehicle incidents ----- 652

Train vs. Ped. Incidents ----------- 169

--Steve Hymon