Signal Studied in Crash of Bus, Train; 7 Dead

Two students injured when a commuter train slammed into their school bus died Thursday, pushing the death toll to seven, and questions were raised about the traffic light where the bus had been stopped.

Moments before the impact Wednesday, the police chief and an engineer had arrived at the crossing to inspect the balky signal, authorities said. The light is supposed to turn green automatically to allow traffic to get clear of the tracks as trains approach, but “the timing doesn’t appear to be proper,” National Transportation Safety Board member John Goglia said.

Tests done since the crash showed 23 to 25 seconds elapsed between the time the train trips the light sensor and the time it arrives at the crossing, the NTSB said.

But a source close to the investigation said the time span may have been much shorter when the accident occurred, giving the driver almost no time to react.

Residents said they have complained for a long time about poor coordination between the gates and signals at the crossing and the stoplight at the intersection just beyond.

Truck driver Charlie Ward said he was caught in a dangerous squeeze at the same intersection only half an hour before the crash.

“You do not get a green light to clear the intersection before the railroad signals and gate come down,” Ward said.

Eight students injured in the crash remained hospitalized, two of them in critical condition.

At the 1,400-student Cary-Grove High School in Cary, near this bedroom community about 40 miles northwest of Chicago, students pinned white paper to their shirts with the names of the dead on them. Many held hands. Boys and girls wept together.

“No one is doing any learning; they’re just sitting and crying,” said 16-year-old Melanie Jopek.

Dozens of bouquets and mementos were placed against the crossing gates: balloons, poems, a red candle, a white cross and two white teddy bears with red hearts.