3 Injured in Car Struck by Train in Covina
A Metrolink commuter train hit a car on the tracks in Covina and injured its three occupants Monday, authorities said.
Two critically injured victims were flown to Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, and a third victim with minor injuries was taken to the hospital by ambulance, said Los Angeles County Fire Capt. Mark Savage.
None of the 200 passengers on the train were injured, said Covina police Sgt. Greg Peterson. The train did not derail, and damage was described as cosmetic.
The train was traveling west from San Bernardino to Union Station in downtown Los Angeles when it struck the four-door Chevrolet Cavalier at Azusa Avenue and Edna Place in Covina at 11:52 a.m., Savage said.
The crash was under investigation by Covina police.
“We don’t know why the individuals were on the tracks,” Metrolink spokeswoman Denise Tyrrell said.
The train was operating with its cab car in the forward position, she said. Opponents of cab-forward operations contend it would be safer to have the locomotive in the lead.
A 2005 chain-reaction crash involving two Metrolink trains and an SUV killed 11 people and injured more than 180 in Glendale. The train that struck the SUV was running with its cab car forward.
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