Train Accidents

Los Angeles to Las Vegas Train Should Ease Traffic and Reduce Car Accidents

November 27, 2012 | by Robert Walch

According to the Los Angeles Times, a company called Las Vegas Railway Express, will be set to operate a train route from Southern California to Las Vegas. The “X Train” will be for adults only and will be on refurbished trains traveling from Los Angeles to Las Vegas on Thursday and Friday afternoons, and back to Los Angeles on Sundays.

This new passenger train route, which will leave from Fullerton, California, will be expected to ease traffic for those commuters who still wish to drive to and from Las Vegas. It should also cause a reduction in the amount of Nevada and California car accidents that occur each year. The route is expected to begin operations for New Years Eve in 2013.

Many California residents are very familiar with the extreme traffic during peak travel hours on Interstate 15. This new passenger train route should hopefully reduce those traffic jams. Also, with less cars on the road, the amount of car accidents should also be reduced. On the other side of the argument, when there are fewer cars on the road, sometimes cars travel faster, leading to more serious car accident injuries.

The train ride is expected to cost $99 each way, and is meant to be an extension of the Las Vegas party atmosphere. Passengers will not have to worry about drinking and driving, or driving home in traffic with a rough Las Vegas hangover.

Almost 50 Injured in Metro Blue Line Train Crash with Los Angeles Bus

August 27, 2012 | by Robert Walch

A Metro Blue Line train collided with a Los Angeles city bus this morning at about 7:00 a.m., resulting in injuries to 48 passengers of the train and bus. The Los Angeles train crash occurred near downtown Los Angeles, at the intersection of San Pedro Street and Washington Boulevard.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the train was traveling south on San Pedro while the bus was going westbound on Washington. The Los Angeles Fire Department reported that the train did not derail after it collided with the bus. The bus sustained major damage in the Los Angeles train accident and also knocked over a traffic signal.

The bus involved in the crash was an MTA bus, line #51, which, according to a transportation official, was traveling from Wilshire and Figueroa to its destination at the Artesia Transit Center. It was reported that 40 bus passengers were being treated for their bus accident injuries, while eight train passengers were also being treated. The injuries were reported as minor for the bus and train riders.

LACMTA Metro Blue Line Reports Increase In Train Accidents & Fatalities

August 7, 2012 | by Robert Walch

The Metro Blue Line, that runs 22 miles from downtown Los Angeles to Long Beach, has reported 22 train accidents and six (6) fatalities so far during 2012. Many are caused by collisions with cars, trucks and other motor vehicles.

The Blue Line is reported by the Los Angeles Times to be one of the busiest light rail lines in the United States and, unfortunately, is on pace to have more fatalities than any other year in its 22 year history. This statistic is even more significant given the fact that the Blue Line has a history of numerous accidents with cars, causing injuries and fatalities.
The Blue Line opened as Los Angeles County’s first light rail line in 1990. It currently has 26 million riders per year. It earned the undesired reputation in 1999 as California’s deadliest rail transit line when ten (10) people were reported killed and 40 others reported injured in 50 MTA Blue Line accidents that occurred during 1999. Most of these accidents involved collisions at street crossings with cars and other motor vehicles.

Although the Los Angeles County Metro Blue Line averaged almost 51 accidents annually during its first 12 years, since then its number of accidents has dropped to about 28 per year. During this time, the Metro took many steps to improve safety, including installing photo enforcement cameras at street crossings to deter drivers from attempting to race across intersections to beat passing trains. Metro officials claim such safety measures directly contributed to decreasing the number of MTA accidents each year.

Pedestrian Killed in Northridge Amtrak Train Accident

October 21, 2011 | by Robert Walch

A twenty eight year old man was killed this morning when he was struck by an Amtrak train in a Northridge train accident. According to the Los Angeles Times, the man was walking on the railroad tracks when he was hit by the Amtrak passenger train near Lindley Ave. in Northridge, California. Los Angeles Fire Department rescuers declared the man dead at the scene.

According to the Los Angeles police department, nobody on the train was injured in the California train accident. The reason the man was on the tracks and hit by the train remains unknown to investigators.

Truck Driver Injured in South Gate Train Accident

September 30, 2011 | by Robert Walch

A South Gate train accident occurred this morning when a truck was struck by a freight train. The driver of the truck suffered minor injuries in the South Gate train crash, which also resulted in a vegetable oil spill. According to the Los Angeles Times, although a team was called in for potentially hazardous material, the oil spill was considered nontoxic and there did not appear to be any threat to the general public.

South Gate is a city in Los Angeles County, southeast of downtown Los Angeles. Investigators are still working to determine the cause of the Los Angeles train accident. According to a spokesperson for Union Pacific, the operator of the train, the truck driver caused the Los Angeles truck crash with the train when he allegedly tried to get over the tracks before the train.

Upgrades Planned to Increase Train Safety and Prevent Glendale Train Accidents

September 22, 2011 | by Robert Walch

Glendale officials unveiled plans to increase safety at two railroad crossings in an effort to prevent a Glendale train accident and also to make way for the corridors to be quieter. The project, which will cost almost ten million dollars, will include improving traffic lights, widening roads and better lighting to increase safety and eventually achieve “quiet zone” status.

According to the Glendale News Press, residents in the area have complained about the horns from the trains that are required to sound when approaching the crossings. If the crossings become safe enough to be labeled quiet zones, the trains will not have to blare the horns in those areas.

200 Million Dollar Judgment Awarded For Metrolink Train Crash Victims

July 14, 2011 | by Robert Walch

Many people remember the tragic Metrolink train crash in Chatsworth, California on September 12, 2008. The crash resulted in the death of 24 passengers and injuries to 98 survivors. Today, Judge Peter Lichtman decided how to divide up the 200 million dollars in funds available to the victims of the Metrolink train accident.

According to the judgment, in the first group, the adult wrongful deaths, the average recovery is 4.2 million dollars. In the second group, the parents of young people who were killed in the train crash, they were awarded an average of 1.2 million dollars in wrongful death damages. For the 98 injured passengers, their personal injury settlements, based on their injuries, damages and future care were for $12,000 or more.

New Details Emerge in Nevada Amtrak Train Crash

June 29, 2011 | by Robert Walch

It has emerged that the truck driver who allegedly caused the Nevada Amtrak train crash has been cited multiple times in various states. These citations were for violations including a 2007 truck accident wherein he rear ended a Toyota on the freeway, causing injuries to a family, and tickets for speeding and driving with a cell phone in his hand.

There was also an Amtrak train crash lawsuit filed this week by an Amtrak train attendant, against Lawrence Valli, the truck driver, and John Davis Trucking, the presumed owner of the vehicle and the company that employed Valli.

The personal injury attorney for the train attendant claims that Valli was negligent and careless in failing to follow the road signs, causing this truck-train crash and the resultant injuries and damages to his client. The attorney also claims that after reviewing Valli’s record and the record of the trucking company, that Valli should not have been driving this truck at the time of the Amtrak train accident.

Nevada Truck Accident with Amtrak Train – Update

June 28, 2011 | by Robert Walch

Although previous reports said four people died in the Amtrak train accident with the big rig truck in Nevada, that number has been revised to six deaths, including the truck driver and the train conductor. The number of missing people, however, has been reduced from 28 to five.

The Amtrak train crash, which happened 70 miles east of Reno, Nevada, appears to have been caused by the either the truck driver or problems with the truck. The trucking company, John Davis Trucking Company Incorporated, based in Battle Mountain, Nevada, has been cited 17 times for having faulty equipment and has had two other crashes since 2009. Those cases involved a truck operating with bald tires and another truck with defective or missing springs.

Amtrak Truck Accident in Nevada Kills 4, Injures Scores

June 25, 2011 | by Robert Walch

An Amtrak Train, headed to Emeryville, California from Chicago, Illinois, was struck last night by a semitrailer truck near Reno, Nevada in a tragic truck versus train accident. According to the Los Angeles Times, the Amtrak train accident in Nevada killed four people, including the driver of the truck, and over 20 people had to be taken to hospitals.

According to witnesses, the driver of the truck apparently tried to stop before colliding with the side of the train, but was unable to do so in time. Witnesses also reported that the warning gates and lights at the crossing were working at the time of the Nevada Amtrak train accident.

It is unknown at this time why the big rig truck driver was unable to stop before colliding with the Amtrak train, but possible reasons could be malfunctioning brakes, inattentive driving, lack of visibility, or speeds that were just unsafe for conditions.