Train Wreck (Glendale, Oxnard, Simi Valley: how much, safe, authority)

[LALady]

Originally Posted by brikag

Unfortuately with a 100 ton engine going into the passenger compartment, we'll have to prepare ourselves with one of the worse rail tragedies in US history. I'm not trying to be callous or cold. My heart and wishes go out to the family. We live in Chatsworth. Our home has the view of the Chatsworth park area. Our condo area is abuzz with chatter. My partner concidered to commute with the metrolink since the gas has risen (and now fallen) but felt uneasy. We will be using our cars from now on.

That will be one unfortunate fallout from this collision. Many of those train riders will return to their cars.

[brikag]

We were glued in front of the tv from the moment ch. 7 broke to it, until they ended @ 10pm. With this tragedy, I wouldn't doubt that either, LALady.

[missionhome]

Lots of prayers for the families of the deceased and injured from down here. I hope the injured can recover. I ride Metrolink about 50% of the time when I go into Los Angeles and am sad to see the people who take advantage of this system suffer.

Metrolink ridership is way up throughout the Southland too. I hope people aren't scared into dangerous cars again.

Also, something needs to be done about rail in this country. Head on crashes should NOT be happening. This is such a tragedy, especially for LA and Ventura County where these 200+ passengers would have lived.

[happ]

Originally Posted by missionhome

Lots of prayers for the families of the deceased and injured from down here. I hope the injured can recover. I ride Metrolink about 50% of the time when I go into Los Angeles and am sad to see the people who take advantage of this system suffer.

Metrolink ridership is way up throughout the Southland too. I hope people aren't scared into dangerous cars again.

Also, something needs to be done about rail in this country. Head on crashes should NOT be happening. This is such a tragedy, especially for LA and Ventura County where these 200+ passengers would have lived.

New York Times indicated that 350 people were on board & that the freight train crashed into a passenger car. Very sad & puzzling [how did this accident occur with the train system controls?

[LALady]

Originally Posted by happ

New York Times indicated that 350 people were on board & that the freight train crashed into a passenger car. Very sad & puzzling [how did this accident occur with the train system controls?

the freight train hit the commuter train's engine headon. The collision pushed the engine back into car#1. That's where most of the fatalities were.

New counts: Less than 300 were on board.

The freight train's engineer survived so they'll be interviewing him/her about the cause of the crash.

[Humanoid]

It's hard to believe something like that can happen with all the communications, electronics, computer monitoring systems, safety procedures, spacing rules, etc.

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing.

Regardless, I was trying to make my way into the Valley via the 118 right when this happened. The area was filled with police, firefighters etc. One thing really annoyed me, many drivers were pissed because they started to block of roads. You'd think that after seeing around 10 Helicopters, numerous police etc they'd figure something serious was happening. But no, having to spend an extra 5~10 minutes getting to where they want is all they care about...

[VLWH]

Unfortunately LA has it's share of selfish people. But have heard right after the accident, quite a few innocent bystanders ran to help victims.

Originally Posted by Humanoid

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing.

Regardless, I was trying to make my way into the Valley via the 118 right when this happened. The area was filled with police, firefighters etc. One thing really annoyed me, many drivers were pissed because they started to block of roads. You'd think that after seeing around 10 Helicopters, numerous police etc they'd figure something serious was happening. But no, having to spend an extra 5~10 minutes getting to where they want is all they care about...

[CourtneyW]

Wow, i heard about this yesterday from a friend. This is just so scary to me because i ride that train like every other day. Right now I'm back home in Alabama, but if i was still in LA, i probably could've easily gotten on that train. I use to ride the Red/Blue/Green/Gold/Purple line all the time in LA because i didn't have a car out there and i always had lots of places i had to go that were spread out all over the county. Omgosh..i just couldn't imagine what i would've done if i was on that train! Thoughts and prayers go out to them!

[cynwldkat]

Cars crash, planes crash, boats sink and yes, trains crash too. It's very rare--much rarer then automobile crashes. I hope this does not have a big effect on people riding the trains. They are still safer then their autos on the freeways! I could surely understand the people on that particular train never wanting to get on a train again---But if to many people go back to their cars there will be so much more traffic and many more acdidents on the freeways! My prayers go out to those on that train and their families!

[CamaroGuy]

Originally Posted by cynwldkat

Cars crash, planes crash, boats sink and yes, trains crash too. It's very rare--much rarer then automobile crashes. I hope this does not have a big effect on people riding the trains. They are still safer then their autos on the freeways! I could surely understand the people on that particular train never wanting to get on a train again---But if to many people go back to their cars there will be so much more traffic and many more acdidents on the freeways! My prayers go out to those on that train and their families!

Ditto to that!