FOR THE RECORD - Dec. 4, 2008

Metrolink fatalities: An article in the Sept. 15 Section A reporting that Metrolink had the most fatalities in the country among urban commuter railroads underreported the total number of deaths for Metrolink and other rail systems. The figures in the article and accompanying chart, shown as the total number of deaths from 1999 through mid-September 2008, were for the first six months of each of those years. The full-year number of fatalities for Metrolink was 94, not 74. Analysis of the full-year figures shows the same pattern reported in the article -- that Metrolink’s record of fatalities per mile traveled is worse than that of other major commuter rail systems in the United States. For the original article and chart and the corrected figures for deaths in those years, go to latimes.com/metrolink.