Train Accident Newsroom

Human Error to Blame for California Train Collision

The operator of a commuter train with 222 passengers onboard apparently chose to ignore, or did not see, a red stop signal conducting it to halt its progress resulting in the worst train collision in California in the last fifteen years.  Twenty-five people lost their lives in the collision near Los Angeles on Friday, September 12, including the driver of the commuter train.

Authorities say that the commuter train collided with a freight train with such impact the engine block of the commuter train was pushed into the first carriage of the train and that chances of finding any more survivors are slim and remote.

Firefighting officials are slowly making progress by cutting through large chunks and slabs of metal of the double-decker commuter train.  Life-detecting dogs are currently on the scene trying to detect signs of life.  Metrolink spokesperson, Denise Tyrrell, told reporters, “At this moment we must acknowledge that it was a Metrolink engineer that made the error that caused yesterday's accident.”

As firefighters make their way through the wreckage, they expect to find more bodies.  Of the 120 people injured at the site, 80 are currently receiving treatment at local hospitals.

Sources at Union Pacific indicate that only two people were on board the freight train that collided with the passenger train. 

One of the passengers of the passenger train told reporters form the Los Angeles Times, I heard a loud crash and I saw black smoke... some people were mangled pretty bad.”

Firefighters and investigators will continue to scour the wreckage for survivors throughout the following weeks.