Dispatcher tried to warn commuter engineer

Dispatcher tried to warn commuter engineer
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- Federal investigators Sunday pored over the wreckage of a collision between a commuter train and a freight train near Los Angeles that killed 25 people.

Metrolink officials have blamed their commuter train's engineer for the Friday afternoon rush-hour crash with a Union Pacific freight train in Chatsworth but National Transportation Safety Board officials cautioned against reaching conclusions before their investigation is completed.

"The whole thing is now in the hands of the NTSB," Metrolink spokeswoman Denise Tyrrell told the Los Angeles Times.

"We are finishing our on-scene investigation," NTSB investigator Richard Downs said.

Metrolink officials said Saturday it appeared the engineer failed to heed a signal along the track before the head-on collision occurred. The Times said Sunday a dispatcher tried to warn the Metrolink engineer his train was about to collide with the freight train.

Regular Metrolink riders said the commuter train often stops to allow a Union Pacific freight train to proceed on its route to downtown Los Angeles but the Metrolink train Friday did not do that -- and tripped an alarm at the Metrolink dispatch center.

A Metrolink dispatcher contacted the conductor, a Metrolink spokesman said, but it was too late to prevent the collision. Metrolink spokesman Francisco Oaxaca said officials were still investigating what triggered the alarm.

Frank Wilner of the United Transportation Union, which doesn't represent Metrolink workers, called it "terribly premature" to blame the Metrolink engineer, who died in the crash, for missing a warning signal.

"The signals might not have been working" properly, Wilner said. "We don't know if there was glare or if he succumbed to a heart attack or a stroke."

Besides the 25 killed, another 135 passengers were hurt, 40 of them critically.

Crews began Sunday to remove damaged train equipment and restore about 1,000 feet of track to service. Tyrell estimated that would take about 18 hours, the Time said.