Sep 15, 2008 5:42 pm US/Pacific
Metrolink Spokeswoman Tells CBS2 Why She Quit
Denise Tyrrell Quits After Dispute Over How Crash Facts Were Made Public
LOS ANGELES
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Metrolink's top spokesperson quit her job Monday in a dispute over how facts about Friday's deadly train crash were made public.
CBS
Metrolink's top spokesperson quit her job Monday in a dispute over how facts about Friday's deadly train crash were made public.
Denise Tyrrell said she had spoken with Metrolink's chief executive and was authorized to release the basic facts of the investigation before announcing that the Metrolink driver ran a red light on the line shared by Union Pacific freighters.
That mistake apparently led to the head-on collision, something a National Transportation Safety Board investigation confirmed, Tyrrell told reporters early Monday.
"I believe that the public should know the facts as early as possible," she said.
The Metrolink engineer, identified by friends as 46-year-old Robert Sanchez, may have been text-messaging some teenage train enthusiasts just before the collision that killed 25 people.
Investigators are seeking cellular telephone records to confirm that account.
In a statement e-mailed to the news media early today, Tyrrell said: "As a result of actions taken during a closed session Metrolink board of directors meeting yesterday afternoon, as well as subsequent press statements by Metrolink board members concerning me -- I have resigned my position as spokesperson for Metrolink."
A union spokesman told the Los Angeles Times it was premature to blame the engineer for the crash.
He had worked for Amtrak and more recently for a private company, Veolia Transportation, which provides Metrolink with engineers.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)
SLIDESHOW: Metrolink Crash
SLIDESHOW: Metrolink, Freight Train Derailment
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