Derailment Halts Metrolink Service for 11 Hours

More than 3,500 Orange and San Diego county Metrolink passengers awoke to a commuter nightmare Thursday when an early morning freight train derailment in Montebello blocked service along the network’s Orange County line for 11 hours.

The derailment occurred at 4:15 a.m., when a northbound train apparently clipped another freight train on a parallel track, authorities said. There were no injuries, and enough of the mess was cleaned up by Thursday afternoon to allow for operation of most homebound trains.

Service was expected to return to normal this morning, according to Metrolink.

The accident occurred less than an hour before Metrolink cars began rolling through Orange County. Commuters who arrived at the line’s train stations early Thursday were greeted by blinking electronic signs announcing that service to Los Angeles had been canceled. The signs also flashed a telephone number for updates on the service snafu.

Commuters were left scrambling for options. While some simply got back into their cars and drove to work, others took the train to Fullerton--two stations south of the derailment--and searched for buses, cabs or carpools.

“I can’t believe this,” said Francesca Picinelli, of Tustin, who found herself stranded at the Santa Ana station Thursday morning. “It’s so frustrating to have to wait, and then it’s even more expensive to get to work today.”

Picinelli, who has a 10-trip pass for $59, ended up taking a Greyhound bus for $18. “We don’t have a choice,” said her boyfriend, Derek Mannion, of Tustin.

The Orange County line runs from Oceanside, in San Diego County, to Union Station in Los Angeles. The derailment had a minor effect on commuters traveling Metrolink lines from San Bernardino and Riverside counties. While a group of 24 Inland Empire line riders who usually make transfers to the Orange County line was bused to Los Angeles, no such provisions were made for the thousands of Orange County line commuters.

“It’s impossible for us to provide buses for that many people,” said Metrolink spokesman Francisco Oaxaca. “It’s just not going to happen.”

Oaxaca said Thursday’s derailment was unusual, because it affected two separate tracks, which are owned by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Co.

“I can’t recall another time when we had the line entirely closed,” Oaxaca said. “Usually we can find a way to get around. In this case though, we had only two main line tracks, and they were both blocked.”

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Times staff writer Elise Gee contributed to this report.