Sep 27, 2008 8:23 pm US/Pacific
Metrolink Adds Engineers As Part Of Safety Upgrade
LOS ANGELES
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Metrolink service resumes days after a deadly train crash in Chatsworth.
CBS
Metrolink is to start posting a second engineer to some of its trains to improve safety, it was reported Saturday.
The move is prompted by indications that the deadly train crash on Sept. 12 was probably caused by an engineer failing to notice a signal telling him to stop.
"It's just an interim measure until we can find something permanent," Metrolink Chief Executive David R. Solow told the Los Angeles Times. "We're going to use them as much as we can as another set of eyes."
Solow made the announcement Friday at a meeting of Metrolink's Board of Directors. He said the backup engineers will come from a pool of employees normally used to replace primary engineers who are on vacation, sick or out on training. Previously, when those engineers were not running trains, they performed administrative work or collected fares.
There are 10 to 15 relief engineers available each day, Solow said, but the number used for this purpose would change, depending on how many already were filling in for colleagues.
Operator error is being investigated as the possible cause of the Sept. 12 collision between a Metrolink train and a Union-Pacific freight train that killed 25 people and injured more than 100 others.
Solow also told the board that Metrolink is looking as well into positive train-control systems which would stop a train automatically if a red signal is passed.
(© 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 This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.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
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