Train Engineer Placed on Leave

A Metrolink engineer has been placed on administrative leave after a commuter train he was driving crossed an intersection at an excessive speed, throwing passengers from their seats, officials said Tuesday.

The incident occurred Monday at about 6 p.m. between Glendale and Burbank on a three-car train heading for Ventura County, said David Solow, deputy executive director of Metrolink.

Speeding at 45 m.p.h. instead of the prescribed 25 m.p.h., the train rocked violently when it attempted to switch from one set of tracks to another, throwing passengers from their seats and causing minor injuries.

An investigation of the cause of the accident, the first of its kind in Metrolink’s 27-month history, should be completed within the next few days, Solow said.

“It is obviously a highly unlikely occurrence,” Solow said. “We really have to find out what the cause is to find out what preventive measure to take.”

Two passengers were treated by paramedics for bruises and other minor injuries at the scene, Solow said.

But no one checked for injured passengers in the third car, which carried Ginni Davis, a longtime Metrolink rider and wife of Simi Valley City Councilman Bill Davis.

“My wife was scared spitless, and so banged up she stayed home from work today,” said Davis, who also serves on the board of the Southern California Regional Rail Authority, which runs Metrolink.

Davis criticized Metrolink’s handling of the accident.

“I think they really need to get some rules and regulations in place to handle these kinds of situations,” he said. “People could have been really hurt and no one would have known about it, because nobody bothered to ask.”