Results tagged “metrolink”

Commuter rail service Metrolink is considering a fare increase to be implemented at the start of the new year, reports the Daily News. "The five-county Metrolink agency board is scheduled to meet Friday to decide whether to hike ticket prices for tens of thousands of daily passengers by as much as 6 percent."

It was January 26th, 2005 when Juan Alvarez parked his gasoline-drenched Jeep Cherokee on train tracks in Glendale. He said it was an attempt to commit suicide before he changed his mind the last minute. He jumped out of the way before "a fast-moving Metrolink train struck the SUV, derailed and struck a parked Union Pacific locomotive before colliding with another Metrolink train traveling in the other direction," as the Associated Press describes. 11 people died and 180 were injured. Alverez was convicted of murder last year.

Text messaging appears to be one major caper in the Chatsworth Metrolink train crash last year, which left 25 dead and 135 injured. Investigators found that Metrolink Engineer Robert Sanchez sent a text message 22 seconds before his train slammed head-on into a freight train.

     

Yesterday, friends, family, co-workers, and community members gathered in Stoney Point Park in Chatsworth to hold a memorial service and dedication of a plaque to honor the lives lost one year ago in the Metrolink-Union Pacific train crash. In addition to the Chatsworth event on Saturday a memorial was held in Simi Valley at the Metrolink Memorial Plaza, which was where Metrolink 111 would have next stopped had the train not collided with a freight train. There at the station, "individual plaques bearing the name of each person who died in the crash, and messages suggested by their families," have been installed at the east platform, according to the Daily Breeze.

It's been nearly a year since that fateful Friday afternoon when a Metrolink commuter train and a Union Pacific freight train smashed into each other, leaving 25 dead and 135 injured. It happened around a section of single track, blindly curving around Stoney Point in the Chatsworth neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Nearly a year after allegedly shooting two men, leaving one dead in the San Fernando Valley last year, Andrew Lee Thomas Jr. (pictured to the right) was caught on a Metrolink train in the Santa Clarita Valley last Friday afternoon during "a routine train fare compliance check" by LA County Sheriff's. One of the officers recognized Thomas, 21, from an LAPD wanted bulletin. Thomas was questioned and gave a fake name, but when officers pulled out a mobile finger print verification device, he was idenfitied and arrested. Last year on August 23rd, Kyree Rasheen McCray, 28, was shot and killed at Reseda Park during a youth football game. A second victim was wounded.

Metrolink has announced the addition of extra trains leaving Union Station to accommodate the expected mass of ticketed and unticketed popele that will hit the streets of downtown tomorrow. A 2:15 p.m. train will leave on the Ventura line ending in Chatsworth, a 2:30 train on the Antelope Valley line will go only as far as the Via Princessa Station and a 3 p.m. Riverside Line train will stop at the Industry Station. Additionally, a few morning downtown-bound trains that experience high volumes of passengers will have extra cars added to them. Those include Orange County trains 603 and 605 and Antelope Valley Line trains 204 and 206.

                     

Los Angeles' central rail transit hub is a modest 70 years old; a baby compared to many train depots in other major cities. Union Station was designed by John B. and Donald D. Parkinson, and "opened in 1939, with a dedication ceremony featuring both the mayor of Los Angeles and the governor of California, amidst three days of pageants, parades and other celebrations," according to our very own LAistory entry on the "last of the great train stations built in this country."

One boy died this morning after being struck by a Metrolink Train outside Riverside. Train 702 was traveling toward Riverside from Los Angeles when it caught up with two boys trespassing and cutting across the tracks around 7:30 a.m. The other boy survived. As of 9:20 a.m. the train was still out of service, but buses were being used to bridge riders.

As Metro continues to refuse to release Google Transit to the public (even though it's basically ready to go), we've found that Metrolink went a step further than just letting Google use the data. "Metrolink has made its schedule and stop information available to anyone who wants it in the Google Transit Feed Specification," wrote Metrolink's Public Information Officer Francisco Oaxaca in the comments section of LAist yesterday. "We hope that developers will use the data to produce other applications for other devices." That means a developer could come along and take that data and make a iPhone application or a mash-up with Metrolink's scheduling info.

Metrolink yesterday fired two supervisors who oversaw train engineer Robert Sanchez, who was behind the controls of the train that slammed into a freight train killing 25 people last year September. But the two supervisors are not really not fired, per se, becuase they're employees of Connex, Metrolink's contractor for employees. Rather, the two supervisors were taken off the job and will be replaced. From the LA Times: "'The unauthorized text-messaging, the 'ride-alongs' and other unacceptable behaviors are all a reflection of Connex's failure to monitor its employees,' said Metrolink board Vice Chairman Richard Katz... Although agreeing that safety is its first priority, the company said, 'We take exception to the allegations made as to their reasons for taking this action, but will not debate it in the same way they have chosen to deliver it.'"

It's not just that Metrolink engineer Robert Sanchez, who is suspected of causing the deadly September 12th train wreck in Chatsworth, let teens ride with him in the train's cab, it appears he let friends sit at the controls of the train. "I’m gonna do all the radio talkin’...ur gonna run the locomotive & I’m gonna tell u how to do it," he texted to a rail enthusiast two days before the crash, reported the LA Times who is covering a hearing about the crash in Washington D.C. Letting someone ride-along in the cab is a serious violation of the law--this is even worse--but it appears that no one was with him the day of the crash. However, the investigation did find that Sanchez sent a text message 22 seconds before his Metrolink commuter train slammed into a freight train.

On September 12, 2008, Angelenos and the nation watched in horror as emergency personnel responded to what would soon go down as the worst train crash in recent US history when a Metrolink train collided with a freight train in Chatsworth. As investigators continue to probe the incident and Robert M. Sanchez, the Engineer at the wheel on that deadly day, more information is coming to light about the man's work habits.

Franklin Avenue today spotlights someone's attempt to use Google Maps to suggest public transit options to get him from Downtown Los Angeles to Inglewood. Shouldn't be that hard to do, right? So what happened when he plugged in his plan? "Google Maps said the total trip would take 10 hours, 44 minutes by public transit -- and cost $10.50." In fact, that almost 11-hour journey had him getting to Inglewood via...Anaheim! Why does this seem horribly wrong? The answer--or blame--rests with Metro, who did not hop aboard the Google Transit train soon enough to get their routes meshed with the maps. So this trip has the traveler using Metrolink and OC Transit, and not Metro (same happens if you try to plot a public transit trip via Google on the iPhone). We wondered a few months ago if it would happen...it hadn't then, and it seems like it still won't. Silly Metro...what a wasted opportunity you're still ignoring!

A 39-year-old woman was struck and killed by a Metrolink train moving through Burbank last night. According the Daily News, the Burbank police say she "was struck about 6:25 p.m. at San Fernando Boulevard and Buena Vista Street." No further information has been made available. The Burbank police are investigating the incident, and they are asking that anyone with information call them at (818) 238-3000.

Since the deadly Chatsworth Metrolink crash that left 25 dead, the agency's CEO David Solow has been in the spotlight. Today, LA Times' Steve Hymon finds that "the Metrolink board of directors has put an item on its agenda for today's meeting that allows members to discuss in closed session whether they want to terminate [him]. Whether they make such a decision remains to be seen." Solow was hired almost 10 years to the date in 1999.

Lawyers for victims of the deadly Chatsworth Metrolink train crash in September say that engineer Robert Sanchez regularly used his cell phone while on the job. An "employee complained to the company about the use of a cell phone by engineer Robert Sanchez, but the company ignored the complaint," the lawyers said. Veolia, the company contracted by Metrolink to supply engineers, apparently had "busted" Sanchez a few months before the accident during a routine field test, the laywers also said. Sanchez, who died, sent a text message 22 seconds before the commuter train crashed head on with a freight train killing 24 other people on September 12. Veolia says they have a strict cell phone ban policy, but are not discussing the crash as the federal investigation is still ongoing and due to litigation.

Yesterday, the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's Station deputies arrested a 15-year-old for allegedly boarding an Antelope Valley line Metrolink train with an automatic assault weapon.

Yesterday Metrolink revealed their plan to combat their "most pressing safety and organizational issues," reports the Glendale News-Press. The findings were presented to the transit company's Board of Directors by a combined team of experts concerning trains and oversight; the pursuit of greater safety at Metrolink largely stems from the aftermath of September's Chatsworth crash--the deadliest accident in Metrolink's history.

    

Instead of being scrapped, one of the train cars involved in the 2005 Metrolink crash that killed 11 people was donated to the Los Angeles Fire Department for training purposes. As evident by these photos from LAist Featured Photos contributor OxDx (also of LA Taco), it's not a high security area. A crew hit the train, but also someone with more... political inclinations of sorts.

Investigators today announced that the Metrolink commuter train involved in a crash with a freight train yesterday in Rialto ran past a red signal. "But we don't know why," Ted Turpin of the National Transportation Safety Board told the LA Times. A red stoplight was ran by the Metrolink train that crashed head on with a freight train in September killing 25 in Chatsworth. Yesterday's crash was minor in comparison--five people were injured--but it is raising questions about Metrolink's ability to safely operate trains on tracks shared by other train agencies.

Yesterday morning's crash involving a Metrolink train and a Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway train sent five people to the hospital with minor injuries. The trains were trains in opposite directions and the front locomotive of the Metrolink train sideswiped the 92nd car of the 102-car-long train. What exactly happened is under investigation.

Here we go again, this time 60 miles east of Los Angeles in Rialto: "Police in Southern California say a Metrolink commuter train and a freight train have collided in San Bernardino County but there appear to be no serious injuries," says the Associated Press. "Rialto police Lt. Joe Cirilo says the trains may have sideswiped each other near a station shortly before noon Thursday. Both trains are upright and still on the track."

In addition to the closures of several local freeways, there are other closures and stoppages of services due to the Sayre Fire that is burning in the Northeastern San Fernando Valley and in the Newhall Pass. Currently Metrolink is reporting that they have canceled all service on their Antelope Valley Line until further notice (Metrolink Twitter). Furthermore, California State University, Northridge (CSUN) has announced the cancellation of all Saturday classes on their campus, and that "individuals planning to attend scheduled events on campus should check directly with event sponsors."

An alleged body covered with sheets was seen by an Amtrak train passenger who was near the Van Nuys Station this afternoon. LAPD Media Relations could not immediately confirm anything, but Francisco Oaxaca at Metrolink said the tracks were closed for about an a hour and a half due to "police activity." Around 4:45 p.m., one track was opened allowing trains to operate on the single track. There were a few delays and one train cancellation in Moorpark, but Oaxaca said the rest of the scheduled trains should operate on time.

If you're traveling into, out of or through areas affected by the Sesnon or Marek Fire, here's the latest as of a 3:15 p.m. update sent out by the Mayor's Office. The more current info is updated at (800) 439-2909. Below are roadway and public transit updates:

Pasadena Blog, Under the Dome, has found that there is an alternative plan/idea to expand the Gold Line out to Claremont. Instead of light rail, as we know the Gold Line today, the extension would be Metrolink. From reporter Dan Abendschein: "An alternative plan, said Snoble, would be to build the Gold Line as far as Azusa/Glendora, then build a heavy rail Metrolink line from there to Claremont to link the Gold Line to existing Metrolink lines. That would be more cost-effective, said Snoble, because light rail is more expensive to power with an electric system than a fuel-based one."

Metrolink is using Twitter to update their service. The latest: "Ventura Co. Line to be shut down in the Chatsworth area due to heavy smoke in tunnel area. More details to follow." UPDATE: Metrolink has some bus bridge alternatives, but depending on where you are and where you're going, you'll need to see their specific details.

James E. Moore II, chairman of USC's department of industrial and systems engineering and director of the transportation engineering program, writes in an LA Times op-ed piece that "if Metrolink service were discontinued tomorrow and all those passengers got back in their cars, there would be no perceptible change in freeway congestion or travel times." He goes on to say that "Metrolink actually makes traffic conditions worse because it consumes resources that SCRRA's member agencies could dedicate to effective congestion relief measures, such as the creation of priced freeway lanes that can also operate as busways." His piece, which gives a nice quick history of the service, makes some interesting points. But the reality is, Metrolink is most likely here to stay.