No Technical Glitch Seen in Rail Crash

A federal investigator said Saturday that the collision between a Metrolink commuter train and a freight train that injured 19 people last week does not appear to have been caused by a mechanical or signal failure.

“At this point in the investigation, which is not complete, I do not have anything factual to indicate to me there was a signal failure,” said Jim Southworth, the National Transportation Safety Board’s lead investigator.

“We have a regional director [who] is doing additional work with inspections of the equipment--looking at the braking system, the cars, the wheels,” he said. “I don’t anticipate finding any adverse findings.”

Southworth did not discount human error but said that the investigation, which will take 6 months to a year to complete, is in its initial stages and that it is too soon to rule out any causes.

Thursday’s collision of a Metrolink commuter train and Burlington Northern Santa Fe freight train in Fullerton caused about $1.4 million in damage but only minor injuries.

The commuter train hit the tail end of the freight train as it was moving out of the Metrolink train’s way and onto another track. The collision caused speculation that the Metrolink engineer, identified as Harvey Wong of Carlsbad, may have had trouble seeing a weak signal light.

The day after the collision, rail union officials said that the stretch of track in Fullerton is known to have weak signal lights, making it difficult for engineers to see warnings about possible traffic ahead.

Along with that problem, the rising sun also may have affected the Metrolink engineer’s ability to see the signal, said Richard J. Weigle, an Amtrak engineer and secretary/treasurer of Brotherhood of Electrical Engineers Local 20.

A spokeswoman for BNSF, the company that operates the railway in that area, said the freight train had a green light to switch tracks. BNSF spokeswoman Lena Kent on Thursday said that if the signal system had worked as designed, the engineer of the Metrolink train should have received a warning signal three miles before the crossing where the two trains collided.

The wreck, which occurred just north of Commonwealth Avenue and Brookhurst Road, closed that section of the railway for most of Thursday.