New State Panel Seeks to Lessen Railroad Risks

Scrutiny of the railroad industry in California intensified Monday with the launch of a new state committee to investigate the safety of grade crossings and passenger trains, including the deadly Jan. 26 Metrolink crash in Glendale.

“The tragic train derailment in Glendale was one of the worst accidents this country has seen in recent years,” said Assemblyman Dario J. Frommer (D-Glendale), the committee chairman. “We need to ensure that we are doing everything possible at the state level to protect our rail passengers.”

Frommer, the Assembly majority leader, said the panel would hold public hearings within 60 days to gather information about rail safety, particularly as it relates to the Glendale crash, which killed 11 people and injured about 180.

The crash occurred when Juan Manuel Alvarez, 25, of Compton allegedly drove around grade crossings and parked a Jeep Cherokee on the tracks, triggering the derailment of two Metrolink trains.

The committee, which was created by Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (D-Los Angeles) at Frommer’s request, will focus on grade crossings and the widely used technique of locomotives pushing passenger trains from the rear, as was the case in the Glendale crash. The practice avoids the time-consuming process of turning engines around at the end of the line.

In the push-pull mode, a train is propelled from behind but controlled from the front passenger car.

Some rail safety experts say the practice can leave passengers vulnerable because passenger cars are more likely to derail and sustain more damage in head-on collisions than the heavier locomotives.

Since Metrolink began in 1992, 15 passengers have died on the system’s trains, and more than 300 have been injured in three accidents involving push operations. The worst was the Glendale crash.

Officials at Metrolink and other commuter railroads defend pushoperations, saying they have provided hundreds of millions of miles of accident-free travel since the late 1950s.

But Frommer said California -- with 11,000 railroad crossings -- is among the five worst states in the nation in terms of crossing accidents and fatalities. Funding for related safety programs has not increased since 1974, he added.

The new safety committee was unveiled Monday along with three Assembly bills by Frommer and Assemblyman Rudy Bermudez (D-Norwalk) that are designed to improve rail safety statewide.

The measures stem from 10 serious train accidents in California during the last three years, most of them in Southern California. Four occurred in and around Bermudez’s district.

If approved, the bills would provide $25 million in additional funding for grade-crossing programs, create a task force to assess the safety of both passenger and freight operations and increase the power of the California Public Utilities Commission to investigate accidents and enforce regulations.

One of the measures would make it a felony punishable by imprisonment and a $2,500 fine for anyone obstructing railroad tracks in a way that causes a derailment or injury to passengers. Obstructing tracks is now a misdemeanor.

“We need to protect citizens and passengers as well as all the goods moving to and from the ports” of Los Angeles and Long Beach, said Bermudez, whose district is heavily affected by rail traffic. “This is an extremely important issue for Southern California.”

Bermudez and Frommer said they were especially concerned about a dramatic rise in train accidents in California, from 105 in 1997 to 187 in 2003. The state projects that 228 accidents will occur this year.

Frommer’s committee and the pending legislation come at a time of increasing concern about railroad operations in the state.

Three weeks ago, the Public Utilities Commission approved an ambitious plan to improve rail safety and fill a void, state officials say, in federal enforcement of industry regulations.

In late March, Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank) asked federal regulators to study the safety of pushing passenger trains with locomotives. Schiff’s request is part of the transportation authorization bill pending in Congress.

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Push-pull locomotion

Metrolink trains are pulled or pushed by engines, depending on the direction of travel. Some experts believe a head-on collision is more dangerous for passengers when the train is being pushed.

Locomotive: Train’s driving force may jackknife lighter passenger cars, causing them to derail.

Cab car: Engineer controls from this end when the locomotive is pushing. Cars with passengers weigh less than locomotive and are more likely to jump tracks.

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Locomotives

Weight: 280,000 lbs.

Length: 58 ft. 2 in.

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Standard cars

Weight: 111,000 lbs.

Length: 85 ft.

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Cab cars

Weight: 112,000 lbs.

Length: 85 ft.

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Sources: Metrolink, American Public Transportation Assn., Times reports