Veolia, the firm hired by Metrolink to supply train engineers has had no comment since the September train crash in Chatsworth that killed 25 people until now. While the investigators have has asked them not to comment on specifics about engineer Robert Sanchez or the crash, they did talk about their cell phone policy. "I think up to this accident, we had the strongest [cellphone] policy in the business given the ones I'd seen," said......

LA Now is reporting that interviews with witnesses of last month's deadly Metrolink-Union Pacific train crash have shed light on findings in opposition of the National Transportation Safety Board--and the color of that light just happens to be green. Three observers, including the Metrolink Chatsworth station security guard, claim "that a final, crucial railroad signal was green as the commuter line's engineer headed toward the collision point." Evidence gathered in the NTSB's preliminary investigation indicate......

Using Google Transit, a trip from Union Station to Chatsworth on a Metrolink Train Last week, vowing to help make NYC transit less complicated, New York City and Google officially launched Google Transit's ability to help people navigate the city. So it got us thinking. If New York City has it and Chicago has it in addition to Orange County, San Diego, Burbank, Irvine, Metrolink Trains and Thousand Oaks, when will Metro, Los Angeles'......

Photo by Zach Behrens/LAist National Transportation Safety Board investigators released information this afternoon regarding Metrolink Engineer Robert Sanchez' cell phone records. He sent 29 text messages while on duty the day of the crash with the last one sent at 4:22:01 p.m. The However, the NTSB says precise timing of cell phone activity and how it correlates with the crash is still under investigation. According to preliminary estimates, the crash occurred at 4:22:23 pm.......

Dominick Fravola was the brakeman on board the Union Pacific freight train that was struck by Metrolink #111 on September 12th. According to cbs2.com, Fravola's attorney "says his client suffered a puncture wound, a concussion and psychological trauma," and that he and his wife are filing suit against Metrolink, Veolia Transportation and Connex Railroad (the companies that provide Metrolink with engineers) because "the defendants allowed dangerous conditions to persist." In the wake of the crash,......

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa quickly replaced appointees to the Metrolink board after the Sept. 12 crash that killed 25 people. At tomorrow's Metro Board meeting (where they will also be discussing late-night subway service), he'll be introducing motions to "add a second engineer to each locomotive cab, install video cameras and digital video recorders in the cab, implement 'automatic train stop' technology as an interim solution while positive train control is being developed, and establish an......

The Los Angeles Fire Department is reporting a pedestrian fatality after a collision with the train at Hubbard St. and San Fernando Rd. in the Pacoima neighborhood of Northeast Vallely. Further details are coming.......

Photo by SeRVe61 via Flickr The Federal Railroad Safety Improvement Act of 2007 (H.R. 2095) passed out of the differences committee (that's where senators and representatives work out differences in the versions of the bill each chamber approved and before it goes to the President) tonight in Washington D.C. "House and Senate negotiators have reached a deal on a major railroad safety reform bill that will require new technology to prevent crashes and limit......

From before 6:00 a.m. to about 9:00 p.m. (with a four and a half hour nap in between), Metrolink Engineers have a very long day, CBS2/KCAL9 found in an investigative report. And that's not even adding in their commute times.......

NTSB investigators use stand-in engines to conduct a test to determine when the engineers of two trains were able to see each other in the moments before a head-on crash (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) After the September 12 Metrolink/Union Pacific train crash that claimed 25 lives, Metrolink repeatedly said that positive train controls, which automatically stop trains when two are on the same track heading at each other, "have not yet been perfected to the......

Reverend Donald Ashman, who "leads a small congregation at the Anglican Church of Our Saviour on the Westside of Los Angeles, where he has been for a quarter of a century [and] teaches Latin and world history at Hoover High School in Glendale," was on board Metrolink Train 111 on Friday, September 12th at 4:23 p.m. when it crashed head-on into a Union Pacific Freight Train. Despite his own back injuries sustained in the......

After the National Transportation Safety Board heard that teenagers were claiming Metrolink Engineer Robert Sanchez was texting with them moments before the crash, they subpoenaed his cell phone records but were wary saying a similar claim in a Boston crash was made and ended up being false. But these claims were true the NTSB announced on Wednesday night. They did not say if it was the cause of the collision, but did say he was......

"The LAFD Dispatch Center received hundreds of 9-1-1 calls for assistance at the collision site, in addition to their normal call volume... The Los Angeles Fire Department has received dozens of requests for the release of the 9-1-1 tapes related to the Metrolink incident. Since it would take hundreds of hours to assemble, edit and distribute this information, the probability of fulfilling this request within a reasonable period of time would be doubtful. Therefore, the......

Unfortunately we've been here twice already this year. First with Randall Simmons who was killed during a SWAT operation in the Valley. Then firefighter Brent Loverin died when a manhole exploded near LAX. Tomorrow will be host to our third funeral for Spree Desha, who died off duty in uniform when she was commuting home on Metrolink Train #111 that crashed head on with a Union Pacific freight train killing at least 26. Desha's funeral......

Metrolink used their Twitter account to announce the reopening of the Ventura Line shortly after 4:00 p.m. today. After Friday's deadly crash, a bus bridge helped transport commuters between the Chatsworth and Moorpark stations.......

Officials work at the scene of a switch controlling a junction with the railroad siding near the site of the crash (AP Photo/Ric Francis) National Transportation Safety Board investigators continue their probe into Friday's deadly crash that has killed 26 people so far. Tests are so far suggesting that it may have been human error. His cell phone records are being subpoenaed to further look into claims from teen friends that Metrolink engineer Robert......

Flowers are left as a memorial at an Amtrak and Metrolink train station today in Simi Valley to the people killed in last week's train collision (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) The 26th person died today at County-USC Medical Center. He hasn't been named, but was in his 50s. However, the Metrolink engineer who died in the crash was officially named even though his name was released on Saturday by local teens who said they were......

Not even 24 hours after the crash, Metrolink Spokeswoman Denise Tyrrell announced that the engineer was to blame because he ran a red light. According to CBS2, she was authorized by the CEO to release the fact and that it was based off a confirmation from the National Transportation Safety Board investigation. But the NTSB was quick to say that was premature and halted Metrolink from announcing anything else. "I don't know on what basis......

At 4:22 p.m., one minute before the crash, the Metrolink train engineer sent a text to a teenage friend, a fellow rail enthusiast, about where the train would meet another passenger train, according to CBS2 News. While the engineer who died in the collision has not been identified by officials, the teens said he is Robert Sanchez and despite Metrolink's claims that he was at fault, his friends said "he would 'never' have been reckless......

Onlookers and a TV camera man look at the Metrolink-Union Pacific train accident crash scene | Photo by Zach Behrens/LAist As the Metrolink-Union Pacific train crash investigation continues through next week, Metro will be operating a bus bridge operation between the Chatsworth and Moorpark Metrolink stations with a stop at the Simi Valley Metrolink station, according to KNX1070. "Metro will begin running the buses on Monday, with southbound service leaving from Moorpark beginning at......

As the search for victims ended this afternoon, one of the hospitalized victims died, making him the 25th loss due to yesterday's crash between a Metrolink commuter train and a Union Pacific freight train. Paul Long, an English teacher at Oaks Christian School, was taken off life support at County-USC Medical Center this afternoon. He was traveling home with his wife and son, who were injured with non life-threatening injuries, after a trip to South......

Update: The death toll is now 25.Yesterday's horrific train crash claimed 24 lives, authorities confirmed this afternoon. That number is expected to rise as bodies of some victims have yet to be recovered from the twisted remnants of the first car of the Metrolink commuter train. "There is zero chance anyone survived being crushed by a locomotive,'' said Metrolink spokesperson Denise Tyrell. "I wish I could say there was...." There was no official update on......

Mayor Villaraigosa released this statement late this morning while ordering all flags in the city to be lowered for the second time in three days: "Less than 24 hours after the crash, our number one priority remains rescuing victims, caring for the injured and connecting with the families still missing their loved ones. Our brave firefighters and police officers will work tirelessly until every person is found. Today, the thoughts and prayers of the people......

At least 18 were killed and 135 injured (about 100 of those were taken to hospitals) in yesterday's head-on collision between a Metrolink commuter train and a freight train in Chatsworth, according to officials. The death toll was expected to rise as heavy equipment lifts the downed locomotive this morning, said Metrolink spokesperson Denise Tyrrell. Metrolink train 111 bound from Union Station to Oxnard, carrying 225 people, collided with the freight train (4 Union Pacific......

View Larger Map The tunnel under the Santa Susana Pass Topanga Canyon Blvd., marked by the Red Pin on the above map, was around 700 feet from the crash (marked by the red triangle). If the collision occurred inside the tunnel, the fatal results would have likely be tripled. Previously: Photos from the Crash Site | LAPD Officer Dies in Crash | Updates List......

The area around Stoney Point Park felt chaotic a half hour after the crash between the Metrolink commuter train and a freight train this afternoon. Details about what just happened were coming out in pieces as a group of neighbors gathered on a corner at a police line at Rinaldi St and Canoga Ave. A commuter who said he was in the last car of the train was standing on the sidewalk. He looked phased......

TV News Stations are reporting that an unnamed LAPD officer died in the crash. Live video showed at least 50 officers lined up to honor their fellow officer before firefighters took the body out of the train. Update, 11:30 p.m.: Seven-year veteran Officer Spree Desha, 35, was off-duty when the crash occurred. She worked in the Office of Operations. Also: LA County Sheriff's Deputy John Ebert was seriously injured in the crash. (Updates via LAO,......

Rescue teams work diligently to remove victims from an overturned Metrolink passenger car following its collision with a Union Pacific freight train in Chatsworth at 4:23 p.m. this afternoon | AP Photo/Hector Mata Metrolink train #111 on the Ventura Line departed from Union Station and was headed to Moorpark; the train had left the Chatsworth station when it struck or was struck by a Union Pacific freight car at 4:23 p.m. near Heather Lee Lane,......

Photo by Zach Behrens/LAist UPDATE 7:48 p.m. Conflicting reports cite different numbers for current confirmed fatalities; KABC referenced an Associated Press report giving the estimated number of deaths as 20, whereas the Daily News reports 15. Currently the worst Metrolink accident on record involved 11 fatalities; as rescue operations continue, and possibly convert to recovery operations, into the night today's collision may become the worst Metrolink accident in the commuter rail's history. UPDATE 7:13......

Photo by Zach Behrens/LAist Metrolink Train #111, traveling from Union Station to Moorpark on the Ventura Line, collided with a freight train near Heather Lee Lane and the 118 Freeway in Chatsworth just before 4:30 this afternoon. The collision is being described as "head on" and both trains appeared to be on the same track. Rescue personnel are on the scene extracting trapped passengers; over 20 people are reported as injured, with 3-5 individuals......