[San Juan]

It is just an awful scene and there are several fatalities. It might end up being Metrolink's worse wreck.

I'd hate to speculate this early, but I think Metrolink may have ran a signal or the signals were not operating properly.

This Map shows where the collision took place. If you pan down (south) a bit you will see where the line goes from double tracks down to a single track due to the tunnels just to the northwest. Metrolink had just left Chatsworth and was heading North. UP was heading south. The wreck occurred close to the signals where Metrolink would have been held. UP may have also ran a signal, but this is northwest and far from the wreck site.

The Coast Starlight and other trains will obviously be disrupted for several days.

Terrible tragedy. I'm praying for those whose families may be affected by this.

For more information, below is a good link that appears to be updating:

Metrolink Collision

 

[San Juan]

Paul,
No reroute planned for the Starlight.

It's current southern terminus is Santa Barbara. Buses will transport passengers to and from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara.

Intermediate stops such as Oxnard will likely be served by another bus. That's what they did when I took it and the line had just washed out that day due to heavy rains.

And as Gary stated, they are working fast and furious to reopen the line.

UPDATE
Here is the official Amtrak announcement:

Starlight

 

[San Juan]

Posted By rlvette on 09/14/2008 7:21 PM
Hi
In this day and age of electronics, I don't understand why the railroads don't have electronic control of the trains as they travel.




As far as a system you describe, well it's in place on the former Santa Fe San Diegan route. And all Metrolink locomotives are setup for this system since they run this route. The system in place is Automatic Train Stop (ATS). But this is only there because the Santa Fe wanted to run trains over 79mph. The Interstate Commerce Commission mandated some form of train control for speeds over 79mph in 1947. Thanks to this, ATS is still in effect on many former Santa Fe districts.

However the collision took place on a former Southern Pacific line. No form of train control was ever installed, and to this day remains that way. How long this lasts is anyone's guess after this tragedy. Typical that it takes a tragedy to educate the public and government that systems do exist that could eliminate or at least reduce the possibility of running signals.

But ATS is not the most effective system out there, and (without going into the complexities of how ATS works) I doubt it would have prevented this horrible accident.

And Mike, unlike this video, I seriously doubt the video will ever be released to the public. Unless I missed your sarcasm