Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
4 Dead in Metrolink-Freight Train Derailment*

Photo by Zach Behrens/LAist
Metrolink Train #111, traveling from Union Station to Moorpark on the Ventura Line, collided with a freight train near Heather Lee Lane and the 118 Freeway in Chatsworth just before 4:30 this afternoon. The collision is being described as "head on" and both trains appeared to be on the same track.
Rescue personnel are on the scene extracting trapped passengers; over 20 people are reported as injured, with 3-5 individuals requiring extrication. Two Four* people are confirmed as dead in the incident. The impact of the collision caused 7 of the freight cars to derail, and one car of the Metrolink train to overturn.
Metrolink's website is currently inaccessible; a spokesperson told KCBS in an on-air interview that they are in rescue mode now and have not yet shifted to investigation mode.
5:26 p.m. A 3rd fatality has been confirmed. All area hospitals are in full trauma mode, and the LAPD has issued a city-wide tactical alert.
5:40 p.m. Metrolink spokeswoman Denise Terrell told KABC in a live on-air interview that this train typically carries 350-400 passengers. She stressed that due to the fluidity of information that immediately follows an incident of this magnitude that it is not wise to speculate on what happened, or, in this case, how these two trains were on the same track. Something "clearly went wrong," however, and it appears that the impact caused the locomotive of the Metrolink train to be pushed into the first passenger car. The accident has not impacted travel on the rest of the system, although obviously little to no service is available right now on the Ventura Line.
6:00 p.m. A 4th fatality has been reported.
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.

-
With less to prove than LA, the city is becoming a center of impressive culinary creativity.
-
Nearly 470 sections of guardrailing were stolen in the last fiscal year in L.A. and Ventura counties.
-
Monarch butterflies are on a path to extinction, but there is a way to support them — and maybe see them in your own yard — by planting milkweed.
-
With California voters facing a decision on redistricting this November, Surf City is poised to join the brewing battle over Congressional voting districts.
-
The drug dealer, the last of five defendants to plead guilty to federal charges linked to the 'Friends' actor’s death, will face a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison.
-
The weather’s been a little different lately, with humidity, isolated rain and wind gusts throughout much of Southern California. What’s causing the late-summer bout of gray?