Glendale train crash
Encyclopedia
The 2005 Glendale train crash is the second deadliest incident in the history of Metrolink
, the commuter railroad
in the Los Angeles
, California
, area. It was overtaken as the deadliest by the 2008 Chatsworth train collision
.
On January 26, 2005, at 6:03 a.m. PST, southbound Metrolink commuter 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, 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 train (#901) traveling in the opposite direction. The chain-reaction collisions resulted in the deaths of 11 people. Among the first responders to the accident were employees of the Costco
store, adjacent to the accident site, who placed calls to 9-1-1 and climbed the bordering fence to aid the victims.
Juan Manuel Alvarez
, who left his Jeep Cherokee Sport vehicle parked on the tracks, was arrested and charged with 11 counts of murder
with "special circumstances." Authorities and Alvarez's legal defense claimed Alvarez was planning to commit suicide
, but changed his mind at the last minute. Alvarez was convicted in June 2008 of the eleven counts plus one count of arson, and though prosecutors sought a death sentence, was sentenced in August 2008 to 11 consecutive life sentences in prison with no possibility of parole.
period, northbound train #901 (leaving Los Angeles) normally carries between 30 and 50 passengers; the southbound #100 train (approaching Los Angeles) normally carries between 200 and 250 people.
The freight train involved in the accident was "tied up" (parked) on an auxiliary track known as "The Slide," running parallel along the west side of the main tracks, waiting its turn to deliver track ballast
to repair tracks on the former Southern Pacific Railroad
's Coast Line
(so called because it runs along California's coast from Ventura County through Santa Barbara
to San Luis Obispo
) that had been washed out by major January 2005 rainstorms.
The next day, police intervened in a similar "copycat" incident in Irvine, California
where a suicidal man parked his car on Metrolink tracks. The man drove away from the tracks when police arrived and was later arrested, possibly preventing another accident.
Regular Metrolink passenger service was restored through the accident scene the following Monday, January 31.
(NTSB) team investigated the crash. The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen's (BLET) Safety Task Force assisted the NTSB. 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 Alvarez onto the tracks at the Chevy Chase Drive grade crossing just west of San Fernando Road (map), pushing the Jeep southward along the track towards the Los Feliz Blvd. 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 both the locomotive of the stationary freight train and 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.
The root cause of the accident was attributed to the driver of the automobile, Juan Manuel Alvarez
of Compton, California
, who deliberately drove and left his vehicle onto the tracks while allegedly attempting to commit suicide. Having slashed his wrists and stabbed himself repeatedly in the chest, he parked his car on the tracks to finish the attempt. However, Alvarez changed his mind and attempted to leave the railroad tracks. Because he was unable to dislodge his vehicle from the rain-soaked gravel and slick rails, he abandoned the vehicle moments before the crowded southbound train approached. (There is some speculation that Alvarez may have inflicted the wounds on himself after the crash, based on some early reports by witnesses). Both this causation and the end result have many similarities to that of the Ufton Nervet rail crash
in the United Kingdom
, which occurred only three months previously, although in that case the driver of the car stayed in the vehicle and was killed.
Early rumors of the incident being a terrorist attack were dismissed, as no connections to any terrorist organization existed with the suspect.
Police on the scene found Alvarez wandering the streets repeating "I'm sorry"; they remanded him into custody after determining that it was his vehicle parked on the tracks. Facing 11 counts of murder
, he pleaded not guilty at his arraignment
on February 15, 2005.
On August 26, 2005, prosecutors officially announced that they would seek the death penalty against Alvarez, and were prepared to use a rarely cited "train wrecking" statute in California law, even though trains rarely derail when they hit a car. On June 26, 2008, a Los Angeles County Superior Court
jury found Alvarez guilty of 11 counts of first degree murder with special circumstances.http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hyFsMk7apWyMP1VKUbpnu9UlO5pQD91HVFS00 Alvarez was sentenced to eleven consecutive life prison terms
on August 20, 2008.
(sometimes referred to as the "cab car"). The rear-pushed configuration eliminates elaborate turnaround maneuvers and facilities to reverse a train's direction. There was severe criticism that this rear-pushed configuration made the accident worse: many people claimed that if the heavier engine were ahead of the passenger cars, southbound train #100 would not have jackknifed and cause the second train to derail. This situation is similar to the Selby
and Polmont rail crashes in the United Kingdom
.
Immediately following the accident, Metrolink temporarily roped off the first cars in all of their trains; passengers sat starting in the second car. Metrolink gradually modified this policy, and as of 2007, the line permits passengers to sit in a portion the first car when in "push mode." Seating is not permitted in a roped-off forwardmost section of the first car just behind the engineer's cab.
The incident has inspired a few television series episodes. A May 2005 episode of Law & Order
titled "Locomotion" featured a train that hit an SUV and the subsequent investigation. A June 2005 episode of Strong Medicine
contained a storyline that referenced the train wreck.
as the Bourbonnais train accident
on March 15, 1999, making it the deadliest U.S. train crash in almost six years.
Fatalities in this accident were:
In a October 14, 2009 article appearing in the Los Angeles Times
, Metrolink announced it had reached an agreement to settle most of the remaining claims.
In remembrance of the accident, all Metrolink train engineers were asked to sound their trains' horns at 12:01 Pacific Time, February 2, 2005, and the former Control Point
Metro (milepost 3.3 on the Metrolink River Subdivision) was renamed Control Point Ormiston in memory of the conductor who was killed instantly.
Metrolink (Southern California)
Metrolink is a commuter rail system serving Los Angeles and the surrounding area of Southern California; it currently consists of six lines and 55 stations using of track....
, the commuter railroad
Commuter rail in North America
Commuter rail services in the United States, Canada, and Mexico provide common carrier passenger transportation along railway tracks, with scheduled service on fixed routes on a non-reservation basis primarily for short-distance travel between a central business district and adjacent suburbs and...
in the Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, area. It was overtaken as the deadliest by the 2008 Chatsworth train collision
2008 Chatsworth train collision
The Chatsworth train collision occurred at 16:22 PDT on Friday September 12, 2008, when a Union Pacific freight train and a Metrolink commuter train collided head-on in the Chatsworth district of Los Angeles, California, in the United States...
.
On January 26, 2005, at 6:03 a.m. PST, southbound Metrolink commuter train #100 collided with a sport utility vehicle
Sport utility vehicle
A sport utility vehicle is a generic marketing term for a vehicle similar to a station wagon, but built on a light-truck chassis. It is usually equipped with four-wheel drive for on- or off-road ability, and with some pretension or ability to be used as an off-road vehicle. Not all four-wheel...
that had been abandoned on the tracks immediately south of the Chevy Chase Drive grade crossing and near a Costco
Costco
Costco Wholesale Corporation is the largest membership warehouse club chain in the United States. it is the third largest retailer in the United States, where it originated, and the ninth largest in the world...
retail store on the Glendale
Glendale, California
Glendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the city population is 191,719, down from 194,973 at the 2000 census. making it the third largest city in Los Angeles County and the 22nd largest city in the state of California...
-Los Angeles boundary, in an industrial area, north of downtown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, United States, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area...
. The train jackknifed and struck trains on either side of it—one a stationary Union Pacific
Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....
freight train, and the other a northbound Metrolink train (#901) traveling in the opposite direction. The chain-reaction collisions resulted in the deaths of 11 people. Among the first responders to the accident were employees of the Costco
Costco
Costco Wholesale Corporation is the largest membership warehouse club chain in the United States. it is the third largest retailer in the United States, where it originated, and the ninth largest in the world...
store, adjacent to the accident site, who placed calls to 9-1-1 and climbed the bordering fence to aid the victims.
Juan Manuel Alvarez
Juan Manuel Álvarez
Juan Manuel Álvarez , a laborer from Compton, California, is a Californian convicted of causing the January 26, 2005, Glendale train crash, a collision between a passenger train, another passenger train, a freight train, and a car in Glendale, California...
, who left his Jeep Cherokee Sport vehicle parked on the tracks, was arrested and charged with 11 counts of murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
with "special circumstances." Authorities and Alvarez's legal defense claimed Alvarez was planning to commit suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
, but changed his mind at the last minute. Alvarez was convicted in June 2008 of the eleven counts plus one count of arson, and though prosecutors sought a death sentence, was sentenced in August 2008 to 11 consecutive life sentences in prison with no possibility of parole.
Background
In the early morning rush hourRush hour
A rush hour or peak hour is a part of the day during which traffic congestion on roads and crowding on public transport is at its highest. Normally, this happens twice a day—once in the morning and once in the evening, the times during when the most people commute...
period, northbound train #901 (leaving Los Angeles) normally carries between 30 and 50 passengers; the southbound #100 train (approaching Los Angeles) normally carries between 200 and 250 people.
The freight train involved in the accident was "tied up" (parked) on an auxiliary track known as "The Slide," running parallel along the west side of the main tracks, waiting its turn to deliver track ballast
Track ballast
Track ballast forms the trackbed upon which railway sleepers or railroad ties are laid. It is packed between, below, and around the ties. It is used to facilitate drainage of water, to distribute the load from the railroad ties, and also to keep down vegetation that might interfere with the track...
to repair tracks on the former Southern Pacific Railroad
Southern Pacific Railroad
The Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company, and usually simply called the Southern Pacific or Espee, was an American railroad....
's Coast Line
Coast Line (UP)
The Coast Line is a railroad line from Burbank, California north to the San Francisco Bay Area, roughly along the Pacific Coast.The first version of the Coast line, via Saugus and Santa Paula, was completed by the Southern Pacific Railroad on December 31, 1900; the line via Santa Susana opened in...
(so called because it runs along California's coast from Ventura County through Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
to San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo, California
San Luis Obispo is a city in California, located roughly midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles on the Central Coast. Founded in 1772 by Spanish Fr. Junipero Serra, San Luis Obispo is one of California’s oldest communities...
) that had been washed out by major January 2005 rainstorms.
The next day, police intervened in a similar "copycat" incident in Irvine, California
Irvine, California
Irvine is a suburban incorporated city in Orange County, California, United States. It is a planned city, mainly developed by the Irvine Company since the 1960s. Formally incorporated on December 28, 1971, the city has a population of 212,375 as of the 2010 census. However, the California...
where a suicidal man parked his car on Metrolink tracks. The man drove away from the tracks when police arrived and was later arrested, possibly preventing another accident.
Regular Metrolink passenger service was restored through the accident scene the following Monday, January 31.
Investigation
A National Transportation Safety BoardNational Transportation Safety Board
The National Transportation Safety Board is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incidents, certain types of highway crashes, ship and marine...
(NTSB) team investigated the crash. The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen's (BLET) Safety Task Force assisted the NTSB. The Glendale Police Department led the criminal investigation, assisted by the Union Pacific Police Department
Union Pacific Police Department
The Union Pacific Police Department is the law enforcement agency of the Union Pacific Railroad. Its headquarters is in Omaha, Nebraska and its current Chief of Police is Dennis Jenson.-Jurisdiction and duties:...
, 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 Alvarez onto the tracks at the Chevy Chase Drive grade crossing just west of San Fernando Road (map), pushing the Jeep southward along the track towards the Los Feliz Blvd. 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 both the locomotive of the stationary freight train and 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.
The root cause of the accident was attributed to the driver of the automobile, Juan Manuel Alvarez
Juan Manuel Álvarez
Juan Manuel Álvarez , a laborer from Compton, California, is a Californian convicted of causing the January 26, 2005, Glendale train crash, a collision between a passenger train, another passenger train, a freight train, and a car in Glendale, California...
of Compton, California
Compton, California
Compton is a city in southern Los Angeles County, California, United States, southeast of downtown Los Angeles. The city of Compton is one of the oldest cities in the county and on May 11, 1888, was the eighth city to incorporate. The city is considered part of the South side by residents of Los...
, who deliberately drove and left his vehicle onto the tracks while allegedly attempting to commit suicide. Having slashed his wrists and stabbed himself repeatedly in the chest, he parked his car on the tracks to finish the attempt. However, Alvarez changed his mind and attempted to leave the railroad tracks. Because he was unable to dislodge his vehicle from the rain-soaked gravel and slick rails, he abandoned the vehicle moments before the crowded southbound train approached. (There is some speculation that Alvarez may have inflicted the wounds on himself after the crash, based on some early reports by witnesses). Both this causation and the end result have many similarities to that of the Ufton Nervet rail crash
Ufton Nervet rail crash
The Ufton Nervet rail crash was a railway accident between a train and car near Ufton Nervet, Berkshire, England that caused seven deaths.-Collision:...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, which occurred only three months previously, although in that case the driver of the car stayed in the vehicle and was killed.
Early rumors of the incident being a terrorist attack were dismissed, as no connections to any terrorist organization existed with the suspect.
Police on the scene found Alvarez wandering the streets repeating "I'm sorry"; they remanded him into custody after determining that it was his vehicle parked on the tracks. Facing 11 counts of murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
, he pleaded not guilty at his arraignment
Arraignment
Arraignment is a formal reading of a criminal complaint in the presence of the defendant to inform the defendant of the charges against him or her. In response to arraignment, the accused is expected to enter a plea...
on February 15, 2005.
On August 26, 2005, prosecutors officially announced that they would seek the death penalty against Alvarez, and were prepared to use a rarely cited "train wrecking" statute in California law, even though trains rarely derail when they hit a car. On June 26, 2008, a Los Angeles County Superior Court
Superior Courts of California
The Superior Courts of California are the superior courts in the U.S. state of California with general jurisdiction to hear and decide any civil or criminal action which is not specially designated to be heard in some other court or before a government agency...
jury found Alvarez guilty of 11 counts of first degree murder with special circumstances.http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hyFsMk7apWyMP1VKUbpnu9UlO5pQD91HVFS00 Alvarez was sentenced to eleven consecutive life prison terms
Life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
on August 20, 2008.
Reaction
The train wreck called intense attention to the train configuration. Many commuter trains are pushed from the back by the locomotive, including Metrolink trains returning to Los Angeles Union Station; in a "pusher configuration", the first car is a special passenger car with controls for an engineer at the endControl car (rail)
A control car is a generic term for a non-powered railroad vehicle that can control operation of a train from the end opposite to the position of the locomotive...
(sometimes referred to as the "cab car"). The rear-pushed configuration eliminates elaborate turnaround maneuvers and facilities to reverse a train's direction. There was severe criticism that this rear-pushed configuration made the accident worse: many people claimed that if the heavier engine were ahead of the passenger cars, southbound train #100 would not have jackknifed and cause the second train to derail. This situation is similar to the Selby
Selby rail crash
The Great Heck rail crash, widely known as the Selby rail crash, was a high-speed train accident that occurred at Great Heck near Selby, North Yorkshire, England on the morning of 28 February 2001...
and Polmont rail crashes in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
Immediately following the accident, Metrolink temporarily roped off the first cars in all of their trains; passengers sat starting in the second car. Metrolink gradually modified this policy, and as of 2007, the line permits passengers to sit in a portion the first car when in "push mode." Seating is not permitted in a roped-off forwardmost section of the first car just behind the engineer's cab.
The incident has inspired a few television series episodes. A May 2005 episode of Law & Order
Law & Order
Law & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,...
titled "Locomotion" featured a train that hit an SUV and the subsequent investigation. A June 2005 episode of Strong Medicine
Strong Medicine
Strong Medicine is a medical drama with a focus on feminist politics, health issues and class conflict. The television series aired on the Lifetime network from 2000 to 2006. It is distributed by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. The series was created and produced in part by comedienne and...
contained a storyline that referenced the train wreck.
Casualties
A total of 11 passengers were killed in the collision. Between 100 and 200 people were injured. In terms of casualties, the crash had the same death tollDeath Toll
Death Toll is a 2008 action film starring DMX, Lou Diamond Phillips, Leila Arcieri and Keshia Knight Pulliam, written and produced by Daniel Garcia of the rap group Kane & Abel and directed by Phenomenon...
as the Bourbonnais train accident
Bourbonnais train accident
The 1999 Bourbonnais, Illinois train accident was a train-truck collision between Amtrak's southbound City of New Orleans passenger train and a semi truck in the village of Bourbonnais, Illinois, near the city of Kankakee. Almost the entire train derailed, killing 11 passengers...
on March 15, 1999, making it the deadliest U.S. train crash in almost six years.
Fatalities in this accident were:
- Manuel Alcala, 51, West Hills, Los AngelesLos ÁngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
- Julia Bennett, 44, Simi ValleySimi Valley, California-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Simi Valley had a population of 124,237. The population density was 2,940.8 people per square mile...
- Alfonso Caballero, 62, Winnetka, Los Angeles
- Elizabeth Hill, 62, Van Nuys, Los Angeles
- Henry Kilinski, 39, OrangeOrange, CaliforniaSouthern California is well-known for year-round pleasant weather: - On average, the warmest month is August. - The highest recorded temperature was in 1985. - On average, the coolest month is December. - The lowest recorded temperature was in 1950...
- Scott McKeown, 42, MoorparkMoorpark, CaliforniaMoorpark is a city in Southern California. It was founded in 1900 by Robert Poindexter, presumably named after the moorpark apricots that grew in the area. The city has experienced a great amount of growth since the late 1970s...
- Thomas Ormiston, 58, Northridge, Los Angeles (a conductor on the northbound #901 Metrolink train)
- William Parent, 53, Canoga Park, Los Angeles
- Leonard Romero, 53, Rancho CucamongaRancho Cucamonga, CaliforniaRancho Cucamonga is a suburban city in San Bernardino County, California. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 165,269, up from 127,743 at the 2000 census. L. Dennis Michael was elected as Mayor on November 2, 2010. Jack Lam is the City Manager...
- Deputy James Tutino (Los Angeles County Sheriff's DepartmentLos Angeles County Sheriff's DepartmentThe Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department is a local county law enforcement agency that serves Los Angeles County, California. It is the fourth largest local policing agency in the United States, with the New York City Police Department being the first. The second largest is the Chicago Police...
), 47, Simi ValleySimi Valley, California-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Simi Valley had a population of 124,237. The population density was 2,940.8 people per square mile... - Don Wiley, 58, Simi ValleySimi Valley, California-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Simi Valley had a population of 124,237. The population density was 2,940.8 people per square mile...
In a October 14, 2009 article appearing in the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, Metrolink announced it had reached an agreement to settle most of the remaining claims.
In remembrance of the accident, all Metrolink train engineers were asked to sound their trains' horns at 12:01 Pacific Time, February 2, 2005, and the former Control Point
Centralized traffic control
Centralized traffic control is a form of railway signalling that originated in North America and centralizes train routing decisions that were previously carried out by local signal operators or the train crews themselves. The system consists of a centralized train dispatcher's office that...
Metro (milepost 3.3 on the Metrolink River Subdivision) was renamed Control Point Ormiston in memory of the conductor who was killed instantly.
See also
- Ufton Nervet rail crashUfton Nervet rail crashThe Ufton Nervet rail crash was a railway accident between a train and car near Ufton Nervet, Berkshire, England that caused seven deaths.-Collision:...
– A rail crash in the UKUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in November 2004 with similar circumstances. - 2008 Chatsworth train collision2008 Chatsworth train collisionThe Chatsworth train collision occurred at 16:22 PDT on Friday September 12, 2008, when a Union Pacific freight train and a Metrolink commuter train collided head-on in the Chatsworth district of Los Angeles, California, in the United States...
– a subsequent MetrolinkMetrolink (Southern California)Metrolink is a commuter rail system serving Los Angeles and the surrounding area of Southern California; it currently consists of six lines and 55 stations using of track....
crash involving a freight train.
External links
- Metrolink website news update on the collision
- NTSB launches team to commuter train collision in California
- "How it happened" graphic (Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles TimesThe Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
) - Photos
- Amended Felony Complaint: People of the State of California v. Juan Manuel Alvarez