WASHINGTON — The engineer of a commuter train failed to stop at a red light before slamming head-on into a freight train in a crash that killed 25 people and injured at least 130 last September in California, federal investigators said Tuesday.
Investigators told the National Transportation Safety Board that there was no sign of mechanical error involving the Metrolink train that was carrying 220 passengers.
“All the evidence is consistent with the Metrolink engineer failing to stop at a red signal,” investigator Wayne Workman told the NTSB.
Workman said the engineer, Robert Sanchez, sent and received 57 text messages while on duty. In addition, he had previously allowed unauthorized personnel to sit in the locomotive cab with him. Sanchez sent one message 22 seconds before his train slammed into a Union Pacific freight train. Investigators said the pattern of text messages was not uncommon for the engineer.
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The preliminary investigation also showed the commuter train, after failing to stop at a red light, ended up on the same shared track as the oncoming freight train. Sanchez was among the dead.
The NTSB panel conducting the hearing focused on cell phone use by train crew members; the operation of trackside signals designed to prevent collisions; and oversight and compliance with safety procedures during the Sept. 12 crash in Chatsworth.
Robert Heldenbrand, the conductor of the Metrolink train, contends the signal light was actually green as the train left the station about a mile from the crash site.
Heldenbrand also told investigators he had warned a supervisor months before the deadly crash about Sanchez’s on-duty cell phone use. He said he followed up with the same supervisor two days before the collision and was assured his concern would be addressed.
His contention is the basis of dozens of negligence lawsuits that allege Connex Railroad LLC, the contractor that provides engineers who run Metrolink trains, knew about the cell phone use but did nothing about it.
Connex is a subsidiary of Veolia Transportation Inc., a private operator of bus, rail, shuttle and other transportation services throughout North America.
“How far up the Veolia/Connex chain had the complaints gone before the accident? We hope to find out about that, and a number of other things,” said attorney Ed Pfiester, who represents 24 people suing the companies.
Connex and Metrolink said they have strict cell phone policies prohibiting use of cell phones by on-duty employees.
The crash prompted a federal ban on cell phone use by rail workers and led Congress to pass a new law requiring so-called “positive train control” technology that can stop a train if it’s headed for a collision.
Metrolink also pushed for a number of safety measures, including a video camera system to monitor locomotive crews.
Survivors, family members of victims and their lawyers said they would monitor the hearing closely in hopes of learning key details of the crash.
“It’s not going to change anything for me. To know what happened might give us some peace, I guess,” said Jeff Buckley of Simi Valley, whose father Alan was killed in the collision.
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