Articles Posted in Train Accidents

While the deadly commuter train derailment in New York City on Sunday grabbed the attention of much of the nation, another story regarding trouble on train tracks occurred Wednesday morning here in the Bay Area when the emergency brakes on a BART train locked up and choked its cars with fumes. In both cases, our train accident attorney Gregory J. Brod is among those asking why these disturbing events can happen.

Inattentive Operator at the Controls of Train in the Bronx
With respect to the derailment of a Metro-North Railroad commuter train in the Bronx, the New York Times is reporting that the Manhattan-bound train’s operator fell into an early-morning daze on Sunday as the train was speeding on a curve and derailed, killing four passengers and injuring 70 more. It also seems that a warning system in place that may have prevented the accident was located on the locomotive pushing the train, at the other end of the train from the locomotive pulling it where the engineer was situated. The warning system, a so-called “alerter,” is designed to automatically apply brakes to a train in cases where the operator is unresponsive.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the government agency that runs the Metro-North Railroad, has said that new trains would include alerter systems in all cabs, but the authority hasn’t said whether all cabs of older trains would be fitted with them.

Whereas the tragedy in New York may ultimately be attributed to human error and may have been averted with appropriate technology placement, the troubling issue BART faced Wednesday morning may have more to do with an increasingly old stock of rail cars more vulnerable to breakdowns and other age-related problems.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, a westbound Pittsburg/Bay Point-line train loaded with 700 passengers departed from the Orinda station and was heading through a 3.2-mile tunnel in the Berkeley hills at 8:30 a.m. when the brakes of the train locked up, causing fumes to fill the cars. The fume-filled train remained stalled in the tunnel for one hour and prompted several captive passengers to seek medical attention.

Some BART Trains as Old as Transit System Itself
The incident was the latest in a series of recent embarrassments to befall the transit agency that has been serving the Bay Area for over 40 years. As it turns out, there are BART trains still in use that are older than 40 years, with the average age of the system’s trains standing at 33 years. Indeed, the train involved in Wednesday’s incident that BART officials attributed to a short circuit had a emergency breaking system with technology from the 1980s. And that is a recipe for not only delays but also breakdowns such as the one that occurred on the ill-fated Pittsburg/Bay Point-line train.

In Wednesday’s incident, the malfunctioning brakes released light smoke or dust along with a strong oder. As a result, after the train finally began moving again and arrived at the Rockridge station at 9:30 a.m., 11 people were taken to local hospitals and treated for dizziness, shortness of breath and nausea, but authorities said all were expected to recover.
Continue Reading ›

The images are startling and frightening. Even though the accident happened more than 3,500 miles away, our thoughts immediately went out to the injured victims and the families of those who died in a terrifying train accident in Northwest Spain. Our San Francisco train accident law firm also considered how we’d protect the rights of victims if such a tragedy occurred in Northern California. As with other complex cases, we might work with an accident reconstruction expert to clarify what happened, find out why it happened, and figure out who is to blame.

Death Toll at 80 and Climbing in Spanish Train Crash

According to a CNN report released the day after the crash, Wednesday’s express train accident in Spain left at least 80 dead and more than 170 injured. Teams expect to find more bodies as they dig through the wreckage. The victims include at least five injured Americans. The accident occurred in the region of Galiicia, located in northwest Spain, and just outside a train station for the city of Santiago de Compostela. Alberto Nunez Feijoo, head of Galicia’s regional government, declared a seven day mourning period for the accident victims. The nation’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy also called for a nationwide three-day mourning period.

For some, the thought of train travel conjures up memories of a simpler time and a bygone era of gentlemen in smoking jackets and women in hats. For others, trains remain a part of everyday life and the hustle and bustle of a subway or commuter line. While the latter group might be familiar with disabled trains and resulting delays, both groups likely think of train travel as a safer option than highway or air transportation. Still, as recent national headlines remind our San Francisco train law firm, train accidents remain a reality. These accidents are investigated at the national level, a big process, but they are also impact very real individuals, a specific level and the level at which our office works regardless of whether we have one client or a class of many similarly injured people.

Two Passenger Trains Collide in New York Area, Injuring More than Seventy

Along with news outlets across the country, The San Francisco Chronicle is reporting on the collision of two commuter trains on Friday that left about seventy people in the hospital. The crash involved trains on the Metro-North Railroad in the northern New York City suburbs. At about 6:10 P.M., a train travelling east from Grand Central Station in New York City to New Haven derailed near Bridgeport, Connecticut. A second train, travelling west, collided with the first, derailing some of its own cars. At least two hospitals, St. Vincent Medical Center and Bridgeport Hospital, treated people injured in the crash. Most of the injuries were not serious, but at least three patients arrived in critical condition. Both the train cars and the track suffered extensive damage and delays were expected to last through the weekend.

As your Oakland accident law firm, we know that automobile collisions are not the only form of transportation accidents. While they are less common, train accidents can impact a large number of people at once and can create huge snarls in the transportation system. In an odd coincidence, two train accidents occurred within hours of each other on Monday, with the second accident taking place only a few miles from the first. Adding to the unusual coincidence, both involved a collision with a truck.

Central Valley Train Crash Caused by Tractor-Trailer’s Failure to Yield

Per a report in The Oakland Tribune, the first of the two crashes involved Amtrak Train 712, originating in Oakland and headed to Bakersfield. At 12:25 P.M., a tractor-trailer driver failed to yield to the oncoming train at a gate-controlled crossing in Central Valley, a farming town located just south of Hanford. The train continued to travel approximately 600 feet after the crash before derailing after hitting a switchback. Two of the train’s four passenger cars and the locomotive, the portion of the train that powers the vehicle, veered off the tracks. Witnesses report that pieces of metal from the trunk ended up inside part of the train.

Our San Francisco accident attorney knows that transportation safety is not limited to cars, trucks, and SUVs. This week, a story in the San Francisco Chronicle served as a tragic reminder that San Francisco train accidents can also be fatal. An individual in a wheelchair fell onto the rail tracks on Monday at Muni Metro’s Civic Center Station. The man’s leg was severed when he was run over by a train. Emergency response crews were alerted by witnesses to the crash and arrived at the scene just before 11:30 A.M. The victim died at the hospital as a result of his injuries. Authorities have not yet released the man’s name but reports indicate he was in his 50s or 60s. It is not yet clear how the man fell but early reports suggest the fall was accidental.

The Federal Railway Administration reports that over 11,000 railroad/train incidents occurred in 2011. This figure includes train and highway rail accidents, issues stemming from trespassing, and other events that caused death, injury, or illness involving railroads. These incidents caused 712 fatalities and 8,033 additional injuries.

Train safety is important for both pedestrians and drivers. Today’s trains are often quieter than in the past so vigilance is particularly key. The average train weighs about 200 tons and trains can weigh as much as 6,000 tons. Trains take time to come to a complete stop and cannot veer around objects in their path. It is thus vital for all of us to exercise extreme caution around trains and railway tracks.