Engineer of Deadly LA Commuter Train Crash Let Passengers Drive the Train, Investigators Say

The engineer at the controls of a Metrolink train which collided with a freight train outside Los Angeles in September 2008, killing 25 passengers and injuring 135, had in the past let teenaged train enthusiasts and other passengers drive the train, according to federal investigators.

Numerous text messages sent by Metrolink engineer Robert M. Sanchez in the days before the tragic train accident show Sanchez was arranging for a friend to ride along with him in the cab of the train and operate the controls.

Dozens of people have sued Metrolink and other agencies for the deadly train accident, the worst of its kind in Los Angeles history. The National Transportation Safety Board is conducting hearings into the accident, which occurred in the L.A. suburb of Chatsworth. As part of that investigation, dozens of text message from and to Sanchez have been made public.

Texts Show Amateurs Were At the Controls

In one of the messages, Sanchez told one young train enthusiast who was planning a ride along on the train, “yea…but I’m REALLY looking forward to getting you in the cab and showing you how to run a locomotive,” according to transcripts of the texts released by the NTSB.

When the young enthusiast responded that he was excited about the opportunity and had been practicing driving a train on a computer simulator game, Sanchez responded, “I’m gonna do all the radio talkin’…ur gonna run the locomotive & I’m gonna tell u how to do it.”

Text messaging has been named as a possible cause of the train accident before, with investigators saying that Sanchez may have been distracted by texting when he missed a stop signal on the tracks, causing the collision with a Union Pacific freight train traveling the opposite direction.

However, the new information about Sanchez texting friends and acquaintances offering to let them drive the train is the first time those details have been made public. Recently, it was revealed that Sanchez had let teenagers and other train enthusiasts ride along with him in the cab of Metrolink trains he was driving, which is also a violation of federal and state transportation rules.

Train Company Decries ‘Rogue’ Behavior

Connex Railroad, the company which employed Sanchez and other Metrolink train crews, called Sanchez’s allowing teenage rail enthusiasts to ride and control trains “repugnant” and “contrary to the most fundamental rules of rail operation.” The company said Sanchez was known as a “dedicated railroad engineer” and that there was no indication that he was violating rules in operating the trains.

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