FOXNEWS is showing a Metrolink derailment in Burbank. The train was reportedly pulling into the Burbank station when it struck a truck on a crossing. The train was operating in push mode; three cars on their sides, with one car on top of another. Engine and last car appeared to remain on upright on rails. No word on what kind of truck it was, only visual we have of it is a single axle. Truck driver was killed, only minor injuries on the train. They went on to report whitness accounts that the crossing's gates and light were working; this would lead one to assume that the truck went around the gates. More details when they become available.
Here's the AP story on that crash: 1 Dead As Calif. Train Crashes Into Truck By NADA EL SAWY, Associated Press Writer BURBANK, Calif. - A Metrolink train carrying morning commuters smashed into a truck at a railroad crossing Monday, upending two passenger rail cars, killing a person and injuring 20. The victim was in the truck, which burst into flames. About 50 passengers were aboard train No. 210 from the Santa Clarita Valley to Los Angeles when the accident happened at about 9:30 a.m., authorities said. The truck drove onto the tracks at a crossing where the gates were down and the signal lights were flashing, witness Greg Peale told KABC-TV. Investigators had no immediate comment. In addition to the one fatality, 20 people were injured, said police Sgt. Craig Ratliff, who described the injured as "walking wounded." Firefighters pulled some passengers from the wreckage and set up a triage area to treat the injured. Some passengers carried the injured from the upended cars before firefighters arrived. Passersby used a metal girder to smash the window of a door on one upended passenger car and helped other people to safety. The train had four passenger cars and an engine at the rear. In that mode the train is operated by an engineer in a cab of the lead passenger car. Burbank is about 10 miles northwest of Los Angeles. It was the worst Metrolink accident since a commuter train was struck by a freight train April 23 in Placentia, killing two people and injuring more than 200. Investigators believe that crash was caused when the crew of a Burlington Northern-Santa Fe freight train ran two warning signals before plowing into the double-decker Metrolink train. The freight engineer told police he was blinded by the sun and missed a crucial signal light. Metrolink operates commuter trains over seven routes in six Southern California counties. It carries about 33,500 riders on 138 trains each weekday. The service began in 1992.
KTLA-Ch 5 Los Angeles (which is on our local Waldport, OR cable system--go figure) is now reporting that the crossing gates were down, warning lights were flashing, and the truck driver drove around the gates to try to beat the train. Deja vu, for how many times before people get it?
It's sad that the headline "Train Hits Truck" takes less thought than "Truck Causes Train Accident". Inaccurate reporting of stupid drivers causing train accidents is not limited to any one area .... Based on TB postings, this same irresponsible headline has appeared in papers of every State and Province for many years. [ 07. January 2003, 01:33: Message edited by: Hank Coolidge ]
And you wonder why the public is not supporting the rails.A few stupid people make it tough for all of us!
Hank, that headline should read "Driver Killed in Suicide- Drives Truck into Path of Train subtitle: Proof that Darwin's Theory Works"
