Metrolink appeal goes to review

LOS ANGELES — A state court agreed at the end of August to review an appeal from Metrolink attorneys, who argue that federal regulations guiding a controversial train operation preclude the practice from being used against the transit organization in a class-action lawsuit stemming from a fatal train derailment in 2005.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Emilie Elias ruled in June that a jury would have the power to decide whether Metrolink’s “push-pull” operation — which uses a locomotive to push rail cars in one direction and then pull them for the reverse trip — make it liable for a Jan. 26, 2005, wreck near Chevy Chase Drive that left 11 passengers dead and nearly 200 injured.

But Metrolink appealed that ruling — buffered by court briefs filed by six other transit organizations including Amtrak and Caltrans — arguing that a push-pull system is not to blame for the accident, Metrolink spokeswoman Denise Tyrrell said.

“We believe quite strongly in our system of operations; we are out there every day running it, and we are a completely safety-conscious organization,” she said.

“We have 40% of our own people on a daily basis, and we take exception to the idea that our system of operation is in some way defective. It’s not — it’s a safe system of operation. It’s used all over the world.”

The three-train accident occurred when a southbound Metrolink train struck a Jeep Cherokee. The train jumped into a parked Union Pacific train, and the Metrolink commuter cars collided with a passing northbound train.

Juan Manuel Alvarez faces criminal charges of arson and 11 counts of murder for allegedly dousing the Cherokee in gasoline and leaving it on the tracks near Chevy Chase.

In an ongoing civil suit filed against Metrolink and Alvarez on behalf of families of some crash victims and some injured in the crash, attorneys for the plaintiffs say Metrolink’s use of push-pull operations contributed to the severity of the crash.

“We have theories of liability, which we think are very strong, that are separate and distinct from the issue of push-pull,” said Jerry Ringler, lead attorney for the plaintiffs.

“But we also believe if they were pulling rather than pushing, the accident would not have occurred.”