Most Metrolink lines closed Thanksgiving Day; normal service resumes Friday

All but two Metrolink lines will be closed for service on Thanksgiving Day, officials announced today.

San Bernardino and Antelope Valley trains will operate on a regular Sunday schedule with seven round trips offered on the San Bernardino line and three on  the Antelope Valley line. Fares purchased on Thanksgiving Day will be 25% off regular weekday one-way and round-trip tickets.

The other five Metrolink lines will be closed. All trains will resume normal service Friday.

As part of Metrolink's holiday promotions, any round trip tickets bought on Thanksgiving are valid for free return travel on the San Bernardino and Antelope Valley lines on any day through Sunday. Also, up to three children 17 and younger can ride for free with a valid ticket on all lines during Thanksgiving weekend.

-- Baxter Holmes

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Metrolink board delays decision on fare hike after thousands protest

Faced with strong opposition from riders and questions about agency finances, the board of Southern California’s commuter rail agency today postponed a decision on a proposed 6% fare increase just three months after the last rate hike.

After receiving protests from thousands of riders, Metrolink board members opted to review a range of possible alternatives to the ticket price increase, including cuts to lightly used service, at a meeting next month.

“You want to charge us more to ride your trains,” law firm employee Charlie McDaniel, who commutes from Riverside to Los Angeles, told the board. “Many of the riders barely have the money to pay their rent.” McDaniel presented petitions she said contained signatures of 2,500 riders opposed to the fare hike. Officials previously said they received more than 1,300 comments opposing the rate hikes.

Metrolink board to vote on proposed fare hike, the second in 3 months

The Metrolink governing board is expected this morning to decide whether to raise fares by up to 6% on top of a 3%  increase instituted three months ago.

Citing a sharp drop in ridership from the economic slump and moderating gas prices, the agency's staff has called for another fare hike beginning in January to close a several-million-dollar gap in the current year’s budget. Fare revenue is down 15% from last year and the five counties that help fund the service have signaled they can’t make up the difference.

The public has sounded off against the fare hike in hundreds of comments to the agency; more than 200 of those threatened to switch to carpooling or other transit alternatives, records show.

-- Rich Connell

Metrolink train strikes pedestrian in Claremont [Updated]

Metrolink is reporting that its San Bernardino Line Train 314 struck a trespassing pedestrian at Indian Hill Boulevard in Claremont. The accident was reported about 3:35 p.m. Passengers were reportedly being transferred to another train.

[Updated 5:28 p.m.:] Los Angeles County fire officials said the pedestrian was killed. The victim was described only as a female.]

-- Monte Morin

Metrolink train hits truck, causing delays but no injuries

A Metrolink train hit a stalled pickup truck about 6:45 a.m. today in Norwalk, causing several delays on its Orange County line trains.

The accident occurred near Rosecrans Avenue and Marquardt Avenue, said Metrolink spokeswoman Angela Starr. A Chevy truck was traveling northbound on Marquardt and making a left turn onto Rosecrans when the vehicle stalled, she said.

The driver escaped without injury.

"Obviously, we're happy the driver got out in time," Starr said.

The commuter train, which had departed at 5:20 a.m. from Oceanside, was back on the move an hour and a half after the accident, she said.

-- Baxter Holmes

Metrolink train hits pedestrian in Burbank

A pedestrian was hit by a Metrolink train in Burbank this morning, temporarily delaying service on the Ventura County line, officials said.

The unidentified person was walking on the tracks about 9.20 a.m. at the downtown Burbank station when Train 110 came by, said Metrolink spokeswoman Angela M. Starr.

Starr said the person was taken to a hospital. She did not know if the victim was a man or woman.

Trains were scheduled to operate on one track through Burbank until authorities had completed their investigation, Metrolink officials said.

“All trains are moving. Everything’s back on line,” Starr said.

Metrolink engineers union sues to block surveillance cameras in locomotives

The union representing Metrolink engineers today filed a federal lawsuit to halt the video-surveillance systems recently installed in all of the commuter rail line’s locomotives.

Metrolink installed cameras as a direct response to the deadly 2008 Metrolink crash in Chatsworth that killed 25 people and apparently involved an engineer who earlier had been text messaging on his cellphone.

Metrolink officials said the purpose of the video recording, which cost $1 million to install in all locomotives, was to ensure that engineers adhered to agency bans on cellphones, text messaging and allowing unauthorized passengers in the cab.

Metrolink installs video cameras in locomotives as safety measure

Metrolink officials today announced that video cameras have been installed and activated inside and outside all of the rail system's locomotives, a safety measure enacted as a result of the deadly 2008 Chatsworth crash.

Video records will be stored in a unit similar to an airplane's black box, installed in all 52 locomotive cabs, and the information will be downloaded daily for random review. The purpose of the recorders is to ensure that engineers adhere to bans on cellphones, text messaging and unauthorized passengers in the cab, issues that arose after a Metrolink crash killed two dozen people a year ago and during subsequent National Transportation Safety Board hearings in Washington.

The announcement was made at news conference by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Metrolink board chairman Keith Millhouse at the Metrolink maintenance yard near Elysian Park. Officials said the price to install the cameras was $1 million.

Times' computer-assisted report traces danger across L.A.'s Metrolink system

The regional rail system known as Metrolink developed its reputation as the nation’s most deadly commuter line based largely on four dramatic accidents, the most recent being last year’s head-on crash with a freight train in Chatsworth.

That collision, the worst rail disaster in modern California history, killed 25.

But accidents with passenger injuries and deaths are only part of Metrolink’s troubled safety history.

This weekend, The Times will publish an exclusive database map of all reported accidents and incidents on the Metrolink rail system over its 15 years of operation leading up to the Chatsworth crash.

The research, led by Times Database Editor Doug Smith, shows that the majority of people killed by trains have not been passengers, but drivers and pedestrians who were on the tracks.

Not counting the Chatsworth crash, at least 212 people have been killed by Metrolink or other trains. And many of the most dangerous spots are where tracks cross city streets in the San Fernando Valley.

Metrolink has failed to do much about these "grade-crossing” incidents — unlike its sister agency, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which erected safety guards that significantly reduced pedestrian deaths along its Blue Line light rail system from Los Angeles to Long Beach.

Included in The Times’ package of news reports, videos and interactive graphics will be Sherry Griswold’s recollection of the day in March 1997 when her son, David Michael, was killed by a Southern Pacific freight train near San Fernando Road.

In the video above by Smith and Times reporter Rich Connell, she calls for new safety improvements to reduce the odds people will wander into harm’s way.

-- William Nottingham

Chatsworth and Simi Valley to commemorate Metrolink crash victims

A year after the devastating Chatsworth Metrolink crash killed 25 people and injured 135 others, the neighboring community, survivors and victims’ relatives will gather this morning for a memorial service to mark the anniversary.

Every week, mourners visit the collision site, where dozens of local residents joined rescue crews and helped pull bodies from the mangled train. They pray, replace flowers, candles, photos and leave behind heartfelt notes along the tracks.

Today, a plaque honoring the victims and rescuers will be placed on the north end of Stoney Point Park, which overlooks the crash site.

The memorial will begin at 9:30 a.m. on the south end of the park. Those wishing to attend must arrive no later than 9:15 a.m. at the Church at Rocky Peak, 22601 Santa Susana Pass Road in Chatsworth. Attendees will be shuttled to the event.

Along with benedictions, there will be a helicopter fly-over, a bagpipe player and a release of 25 white doves. Those affected by the crash will present roses as tribute to the victims.

“This is an opportunity to reflect back on this tragic event that really touched and traumatized the whole community,” said Matt Myerhoff, spokesman for L.A. Councilman Greig Smith. “This event will really move a lot of people.”

For more information, call Smith’s office 818-756-8501.

A second commemoration will take place in Simi Valley at 4 p.m. at the Simi Valley rail station, 5050 Los Angeles Ave. The event will be held at a memorial plaza with benches that was recently completed to remember the victims of the crash. Ten Simi Valley residents were killed.

“This was envisioned and created as a result of the community wanting to do something,” said Laura Behjan, Simi Valley assistant city manager. “They want victims to know they are supported and cared about.”

--Esmeralda Bermudez

Photo: Four days after the crash, flowers greet the first running of Metrolink 111 to the Simi Valley station. Credit: Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times

Chatsworth Metrolink disaster leaves huge void in a family

Remembering Jacob Hefter: Video | Photos

Tree-planting to mark first anniversary of Metrolink crash

City officials will plant a tree this morning on the lower field of Chatsworth Hills Academy in remembrance of the 25 people killed in the Metrolink train crash. Officials also will unveil a bench and plaque to honor the victims and first responders.

The remembrance and appreciation ceremony, which is closed to the public, will be held on the school's lower field, just yards from the crash site. Guests will include Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Councilman Greig Smith, whose district includes the Chatsworth area, law enforcement and fire officials, and dozens of students.

On Sept. 12, 2008, Metrolink Train 111, en route from Los Angeles Union Station to Moorpark, left the Chatsworth station and collided head-on with a Union Pacific freight train. Twenty-five people were killed and 135 were injured. Investigators have said a Metrolink engineer was text messaging on a cellphone about the time of the crash and apparently ran a red light.

A triage center was established on the school's lower field that day, and for the next three days served as temporary headquarters for the National Transportation Safety Board during its investigation into the fatal crash.

Smith is scheduled Saturday to unveil a memorial plaque at Stoney Point Park in Chatsworth. Topanga Canyon Boulevard between the Ronald Reagan Freeway and Chatsworth Street will be closed off. The ceremony will be open to the public; attendees should park at the Church at Rocky Peak and take a shuttle.

-- Ruben Vives

Photo: Richard Gerald, left, of the American Red Cross, takes a photo of a commemorative plaque at Union Station honoring the 25 people killed when a Metrolink commuter train collided with a freight train nearly a year ago in Los Angeles.

Credit: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times

Plaque honoring Metrolink train crash victims unveiled

Metrolink officials unveiled a commemorative plaque this morning at Union Station in downtown Los Angeles dedicated to those who have lost their lives on Metrolink trains.

"[The plaque] was designed to remind us of those who we have lost," said Metrolink Board Chairman Keith Millhouse. He said the plaque also is meant to honor those affected by train accidents, including friends, loved ones and first-responders.

A large group of law enforcement and Metrolink officials, Red Cross workers and train commuters stood watch and applauded as Millhouse removed a black cloth to reveal the large bronze plaque depicting a track nearing a tree-shrouded bend.

Beneath the picture it reads: "`Unfinished Journeys.' In memory of those who have died, With empathy of those affected, In gratitude to those who responded and rescued."

The unveiling comes as the one-year anniversary of the Sept. 12, 2008, Metrolink crash in Chatsworth nears. Twenty-five people died and 135 were injured when the Metrolink train collided head-on with a Union Pacific train.

-- Ruben Vives

 Photo: Metrolink Board Chairman Keith Millhouse speaks at a dedication ceremony for a plaque honoring Metrolink crash victims at L.A.'s Union Station. Credit: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times.

Datadesk: Database of fatalities and memories from the Sept. 12, 2008, train collision.

Related: Metrolink struggles with reforms

Metrolink reverses course on running its own train crews, opens talks with Amtrak

In a change of course on a key safety initiative, Metrolink board members today voted to begin sole-source negotiations with Amtrak to provide train crews for the five-county commuter rail service starting next summer.

The action represents a sharp turn in direction from June, when the board approved a plan to hire train engineers and conductors directly.

Given the safety improvements straining the rail agency’s resources and Amtrak’s experience and interest in providing train crews, board members unanimously agreed that negotiating a sole-source contract was the best option for maintaining operations.
 
The current operating agreement with Connex Railroad LLC, whose relationship with Metrolink deteriorated after last year’s Chatsworth rail crash, will end in June 2010, putting the rail agency under a tight deadline to resolve how the system will be run.

“We have a lot going on here,” said board member Richard Katz, explaining his shift away from support for Metrolink directly hiring and supervising train crews. He noted a series of other projects, including developing a high-tech collision avoidance system, are also challenging the agency.

Metrolink moves to take over supervision of engineers, conductors in wake of deadly crash

As an outgrowth of the deadly Metrolink crash in Chatsworth last fall, the Southern California commuter rail moved today to dramatically change that way its trains are operated by taking control over engineers and conductors who had long been provided by a subcontractor.

The board of the five-county regional service voted unanimously to begin what would be a yearlong transition from the subcontractor, Connex Railroad. But it also agreed to hear proposals from Amtrak.

Metrolink officials essentially had no choice but to act, in part because Connex -- which had been accused of lax oversight of engineers and conductors -- no longer wanted the job and other rail service companies balked at accepting the potential liability for any Metrolink accidents.

In the Chatsworth crash, two trains collided, killing 25 people and injuring 135 -- many of whom have filed multimillion-dollar lawsuits against the railroad and Connex.

-- Jean Merl

Photo credit: Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times

Metrolink settles with spokeswoman who quit after Chatsworth train crash

Metrolink has agreed to pay a former spokeswoman who resigned after last year’s Chatsworth train crash $135,500 to settle potential claims against the agency, according to a copy of the agreement obtained today.

Denise Tyrrell, who recently was hired to manage the state Public Utilities Commission’s Los Angeles office, was the public face of the commuter rail agency in the grim early hours after the disaster, which killed 25 and injured 135.

She resigned within days after being criticized by some Metrolink officials and federal investigators for announcing that a preliminary investigation had found that the Metrolink engineer ran a red light. Investigators have since said the same thing.

Metrolink considering fare hikes up to 5.5%

Faced with rising labor and maintenance costs, the Metrolink commuter rail service is considering fare increases of up to 5.5% this year and a policy change that would require riders to share some of the cost of transferring to other transit services.

If approved by Metrolink’s board of directors in late April, fares would go up anywhere from 3.5% to 5.5% on July 1 with increases for some lines that will be higher than the system-wide average.

For example, a round-trip commute between Anaheim and Union Station in downtown Los Angeles -- now $14 -- could rise as much as 77 cents if the maximum boost is applied to that route.

Metrolink has seven lines and 56 stations, serving about 45,000 passengers a day from six Southern California counties, including Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura.

Former Metrolink spokeswoman hired by PUC

The former Metrolink spokeswoman who resigned in the aftermath of last year's Chatsworth train crash has been hired by the state Public Utilities Commission, the agency announced today.

Denise Tyrrell will manage the commission's Los Angeles office and focus on community outreach to consumers, community groups and local elected officials. Tyrrell may also serve as spokesperson for the agency in Southern California.

Tyrrell worked for Metrolink from 2004 until a few days after the Sept. 12 train collision that killed 25 and injured 135. She resigned after being criticized by some Metrolink officials and federal investigators for announcing the day after the crash that a preliminary investigation had found that the Metrolink engineer ran a red light. Investigators have since said the same thing. Tyrrell said the plan to make the announcement was agreed to by Metrolink's chief executive, David Solow. Some board members criticized the admission as premature, although other observers praised Tyrrell's candor.

Metrolink fires two top supervisors

Metrolink officials said today they were removing two of the top managers who supervised the train engineer suspected of causing last year’s Chatsworth rail crash.

The employees -- who worked for Connex Railroad, a Metrolink subcontractor -- are General Manager Tom McDonald and Assistant General Manager Gregg Konstanzer. Both testified earlier this week at a National Transportation Safety Board hearing in Washington.

“Metrolink’s first priority is the safety of our passengers. The disturbing revelations of misconduct by a Connex employee and the subsequent testimony by Connex’s top managers before an NTSB investigator was dealt with immediately,” said Keith Millhouse, Metrolink board chairman.

“Simply put, we fired them from Metrolink.”

The two-day Washington hearing detailed how engineer Robert M. Sanchez allowed teenage rail fans to ride in locomotive control cabs. He also sent and received hundreds of text messages while scheduled to operate trains in the days leading up to the crash, despite receiving two earlier warnings that on-the-job cellphone use was in violation of rail policy.

Sanchez, who was among the 25 people killed in the collision, also was text messaging about the time he sped through a red signal and into a sharp curve of shared, single track, investigators say. His Metrolink commuter train slammed head-on into a Union Pacific freight train, killing him and 24 passengers and injuring 135, federal investigators say.

A Connex spokesman had no immediate comment.

-- Rich Connell

Union Pacific official says new train braking system may not meet federal deadline [CORRECTED]

A Union Pacific Railroad official told federal authorities today that it was unlikely that the railroad would be able to meet a federal deadline to install high-tech technology that would help prevent deadly collisions on its trains nationwide.

Positive train control is designed to stop a locomotive if an engineer exceeds speed limits or fails to stop at a red warning signal. A federal law passed in the wake of the Metrolink train crash in Chatsworth last fall requires that such systems be in place by 2015. In the Chatsworth incident, a Metrolink engineer sped past a stop signal and crashed head-on with a Union Pacific freight train, killing 25 and injuring 135.

Officials for Metrolink and Union Pacific had vowed to install the technology on their Los Angeles-area trains by 2012, and say they still plan to meet that target date.

But in regard to installing the technology nationwide by 2015, “Right now, I would say that’s not likely,” Jeff Young, assistant vice president for systems development at Union Pacific, said during sworn testimony at a National Transportation Safety Board hearing into the Chatsworth disaster.

The railroad would have to install onboard computers and other equipment in 6,000 locomotives and on trackside warning signals across the nation. Any equipment in Los Angeles would have to be compatible with Metrolink because the two agencies share track.

-- Robert J. Lopez

Corrected, 6:30 p.m.:  A previous post reported that Union Pacific officials did not expect to meet their 2012 target date for Los Angeles-area trains.  In fact, the official said that they did not expect to meet the federal deadline to have the equipment installed on all trains nationwide.  The post also reported that Union Pacific would have to modify 6,000 locomotives in Southern California.  In fact, that number applies to its total U.S. fleet.

Previously on L.A. Now

Metrolink hearing: Signal-calling rules could create safety problems

NTSB official questions national rail safety supervision

Metrolink union opposes video cameras inside locomotives

Federal hearing: Metrolink engineer warned twice about cell use

Federal hearing: Rail enthusiasts sat at controls of Metrolink train

NTSB takes testimony in deadly Metrolink train crash

Metrolink hearing: Signal-calling rules could create safety problems

Metrolink regulations for calling out the color of all track-side warning signals over the radio have the potential to create safety problems by cluttering radio traffic and blocking out more important transmissions, according to testimony today at a federal hearing.

Questions about the transit agency’s signal-calling rules were raised during the second day of sworn testimony at a National Transportation Safety Board hearing into the Sept. 12 Chatsworth rail disaster that killed 25 people and injured 135 others. The agency requires its engineers to call out not just red and yellow signals -– like other railroads -– but also green signals, according to testimony.

NTSB official questions national rail safety supervision

Repeated, reckless rule violations emerging from the investigation of last year’s deadly Metrolink crash are exposing systemic problems in the nation's rail safety enforcement and sharpening differences over how to prevent accidents in the years until high-tech collision avoidance systems can be deployed.

A long-embraced pillar of train safety enforcement for Metrolink and other rail systems—so-called “efficiency” field testing—came under fire in Washington today from the chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board panel probing the Chatsworth crash that killed 25 and injured 135.

Kathryn O'Leary Higgins noted that at least four serious violations of safety regulations have been exposed in the examination of the Sept. 12 head-on collision between a commuter train and a Union Pacific freight train:  on-duty cellphone use, a failure to confirm signal colors, unauthorized ride-alongs and marijuana use by a train crew member.

The industry must devise a more effective way to police train crews because traditional field inspections by supervisors are not working, she told reporters. “It’s a handful of people who all know each other," Higgins said.

Metrolink union opposes video cameras inside locomotives

A top union official representing Metrolink engineers told federal authorities this morning that the union opposes a key reform proposed by the commuter agency in the wake of the Chatsworth rail disaster: installing video cameras inside locomotives.

The comments came during the second day of sworn testimony in a National Transportation Safety Board hearing investigating the Sept. 12 catastrophe that killed 25 people and injured 13 others.

“We certainly don’t support the requirement or the installation of any recording device” inside train cabs because of privacy concerns, said William Walpert, national secretary treasurer of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen.

Federal hearing: Metrolink engineer warned twice about cellphone use

Supervisors twice warned Metrolink engineer Robert M. Sanchez about improper use of cellphones while in the control cab of trains, according to testimony this morning in Washington.

Sanchez was sending a text message shortly before he ran through a red signal light and crashed into a Union Pacific freight train in Chatsworth on Sept. 12, federal officials said. Sanchez and 24 passengers died and 135 passengers were injured in the worst commuter rail disaster in modern California history.

Rick Dahl, a supervisor with Connex Railroad, which provides train crews to Los Angeles-based Metrolink, said Sanchez was first warned about violating rail policy in 2006 when inspectors conducting a surprise test found that his cellphone was turned on in a nearby personal gear bag on board the train.

Dahl said he warned Sanchez a second time shortly before the September crash, following a complaint by the conductor working with Sanchez. The conductor had seen the engineer using a cellphone on the job.

Under questioning, Dahl said Sanchez was not observed using a phone while the train was operating.

“We never had an operator of a moving train who was caught red handed, sort of speak,” said Connex assistant general manager Greg Konstanzer, who also testified.

Federal hearing: Rail enthusiasts sat at controls of Metrolink train

The engineer suspected of causing the Sept. 12 Metrolink catastrophe in Chatsworth not only allowed rail enthusiasts into the cab of moving trains but also let them sit at the controls, according to text messages released today at a hearing by federal investigators.

Two days before the crash, Metrolink engineer Robert M. Sanchez sent a cellphone text message arranging another ride-along and said, "this time I'm taking a picture of you @ da throttle!!!"

Planning for the evening ride-along on the day of the crash, Sanchez texted one of the rail enthusiasts: "yea...but I’m REALLY looking forward to getting you in the cab and showing you how to run a locomotive."

The recipient, identified as "Person A," responded: "Omg [oh, my God] dude me too. Running a locomotive. Having all of that in the palms of my hands. Its a great feeling. And ill do it so good from all my practice on the simulator.”

Sanchez answered: "I’m gonna do all the radio talkin’...ur gonna run the locomotive & I’m gonna tell u how to do it."

The Times reported last week that the messages indicated Sanchez allowed teens to ride in Metrolink cabs, a serious violations of safety rules. Though it does not appear Sanchez had riders in the cab the day Metrolink commuter train 111 crashed into a Union Pacific freight train sharing the same track, he made plans to meet up and allow the rail buffs on board to operate a train later that evening, the records show. Officials with the National Transportation Safety Board said today the ride-along violated federal and local regulations. 

NTSB takes testimony in deadly Metrolink train crash

Federal investigators this morning are expected to disclose new details on the crucial question of whether track-side signals were working properly last September prior to the deadly Metrolink commuter rail disaster in Chatsworth.

The National Transportation Safety Board, which begins a two-day hearing in Washington, D.C., at 6 a.m. Pacific time, has said that at least three tests show that a critical red light was visible and the signal system was working properly at the time of the catastrophe that killed 25 people and injured 135 others. The video below shows the signal light in question.

The NTSB panel will take sworn testimony from subpoenaed witnesses and is expected to delve more deeply into details of improper cellphone text messaging by Metrolink engineer Robert M. Sanchez, who died in the crash. The agency will stream the hearing over the Internet. If you have trouble receiving it, check this support page.

Here's what to watch for: