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2005 Glendale train crash
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2005 Glendale train crash
The 2005 Glendale train crash occurred on January 26, 2005, at 6:03 a.m. PST, when a Metrolink commuter train collided with a sport utility vehicle that had been parked on the tracks by a suicidal man in an industrial area of Glendale, California, just east of the Los Angeles city limits, causing the deaths of 11 people and injuring 177 more. The driver of the car, who had changed his mind shortly before the impact but willingly left his car on the tracks, survived the incident and was charged with eleven counts of murder and one count of arson.
In the early morning rush hour period, southbound Ventura County Line train #100 (approaching Los Angeles) normally carried between 200 and 250 passengers; the northbound Antelope Valley Line train #901 (leaving Los Angeles) normally carried between thirty and fifty passengers.
The freight train involved in the crash was "tied down" (parked and unattended) on an auxiliary track known as "The Slide", running parallel along the west side of the main tracks, led by Union Pacific model EMD SD70M locomotive number 4323, and CEFX model SD40-2 number 3173, waiting to deliver track ballast to repair tracks on the former Southern Pacific Railroad's Coast Line which had previously been washed out in January 2005 by major rainstorms.
On January 26, 2005, at 6:03 a.m. PST, Metrolink's southbound Ventura County Line train #100 collided with a sport utility vehicle that had been abandoned on the tracks immediately south of the Chevy Chase Drive grade crossing and near a Costco retail store on the Glendale–Los Angeles boundary (the western edge of the railroad right of way is the dividing line), in an industrial area north of downtown Los Angeles. The train jackknifed and struck trains on either side of it—one a stationary Union Pacific freight train, and the other a northbound Metrolink Antelope Valley Line train (#901) traveling in the opposite direction. The chain-reaction collisions resulted in the deaths of eleven people.
Among the first responders to the crash were employees of the Costco store adjacent to the accident site, who placed calls to 9-1-1 and climbed the perimeter fence to aid the victims, pulling out survivors and using fire extinguishers until firefighters arrived. About 300 firefighters, helicopters and cadaver dogs were brought to the crash site in order to help locate individuals trapped.
Juan Manuel Álvarez, who had left his Jeep Cherokee Sport vehicle parked on the tracks, was arrested and charged with eleven counts of murder with "special circumstances". Authorities and Álvarez's legal defense claimed he was planning to commit suicide, but changed his mind at the last minute. Álvarez was convicted in June 2008 of the eleven counts plus one count of arson, and though prosecutors sought a death sentence, was instead sentenced in August 2008 to eleven consecutive life sentences in prison with no possibility of parole.
A National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) team investigated the crash, assisted by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen's (BLET) Safety Task Force. The Glendale Police Department led the criminal investigation, assisted by the Union Pacific Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, and the criminal case was tried in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
The southbound Metrolink train (#100) struck the parked Jeep that had been driven by Álvarez onto the tracks at the Chevy Chase Drive grade crossing just west of San Fernando Road, pushing the Jeep southward along the track towards the Los Feliz Boulevard undercrossing until automotive parts struck a track switch and became lodged under the leading car of the Metrolink train, raising it up and causing the train to derail. Cars from the derailed train jackknifed, hitting the locomotive of the stationary Union Pacific freight train and also sideswiping the rear of the passing northbound #901 Metrolink passenger train. This caused the rear cars of the northbound train to derail, and at least one car rolled over onto its side. A fire, involving one or more passenger cars, was caused by spilled diesel fuel.
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2005 Glendale train crash
The 2005 Glendale train crash occurred on January 26, 2005, at 6:03 a.m. PST, when a Metrolink commuter train collided with a sport utility vehicle that had been parked on the tracks by a suicidal man in an industrial area of Glendale, California, just east of the Los Angeles city limits, causing the deaths of 11 people and injuring 177 more. The driver of the car, who had changed his mind shortly before the impact but willingly left his car on the tracks, survived the incident and was charged with eleven counts of murder and one count of arson.
In the early morning rush hour period, southbound Ventura County Line train #100 (approaching Los Angeles) normally carried between 200 and 250 passengers; the northbound Antelope Valley Line train #901 (leaving Los Angeles) normally carried between thirty and fifty passengers.
The freight train involved in the crash was "tied down" (parked and unattended) on an auxiliary track known as "The Slide", running parallel along the west side of the main tracks, led by Union Pacific model EMD SD70M locomotive number 4323, and CEFX model SD40-2 number 3173, waiting to deliver track ballast to repair tracks on the former Southern Pacific Railroad's Coast Line which had previously been washed out in January 2005 by major rainstorms.
On January 26, 2005, at 6:03 a.m. PST, Metrolink's southbound Ventura County Line train #100 collided with a sport utility vehicle that had been abandoned on the tracks immediately south of the Chevy Chase Drive grade crossing and near a Costco retail store on the Glendale–Los Angeles boundary (the western edge of the railroad right of way is the dividing line), in an industrial area north of downtown Los Angeles. The train jackknifed and struck trains on either side of it—one a stationary Union Pacific freight train, and the other a northbound Metrolink Antelope Valley Line train (#901) traveling in the opposite direction. The chain-reaction collisions resulted in the deaths of eleven people.
Among the first responders to the crash were employees of the Costco store adjacent to the accident site, who placed calls to 9-1-1 and climbed the perimeter fence to aid the victims, pulling out survivors and using fire extinguishers until firefighters arrived. About 300 firefighters, helicopters and cadaver dogs were brought to the crash site in order to help locate individuals trapped.
Juan Manuel Álvarez, who had left his Jeep Cherokee Sport vehicle parked on the tracks, was arrested and charged with eleven counts of murder with "special circumstances". Authorities and Álvarez's legal defense claimed he was planning to commit suicide, but changed his mind at the last minute. Álvarez was convicted in June 2008 of the eleven counts plus one count of arson, and though prosecutors sought a death sentence, was instead sentenced in August 2008 to eleven consecutive life sentences in prison with no possibility of parole.
A National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) team investigated the crash, assisted by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen's (BLET) Safety Task Force. The Glendale Police Department led the criminal investigation, assisted by the Union Pacific Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, and the criminal case was tried in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
The southbound Metrolink train (#100) struck the parked Jeep that had been driven by Álvarez onto the tracks at the Chevy Chase Drive grade crossing just west of San Fernando Road, pushing the Jeep southward along the track towards the Los Feliz Boulevard undercrossing until automotive parts struck a track switch and became lodged under the leading car of the Metrolink train, raising it up and causing the train to derail. Cars from the derailed train jackknifed, hitting the locomotive of the stationary Union Pacific freight train and also sideswiping the rear of the passing northbound #901 Metrolink passenger train. This caused the rear cars of the northbound train to derail, and at least one car rolled over onto its side. A fire, involving one or more passenger cars, was caused by spilled diesel fuel.
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