Personal Injury Blog

Metrolink, Train Operator Battle over Responsibility for 2008 Accident

September 4th, 2011
metrolink accident 2008

Metrolink accident that killed twenty-five people and injured more than 100 others

Southern California’s commuter rail agency Metrolink and the train operator in charge during the 2008 metrolink  accident near Chatsworth, Los Angeles are engaged in a dispute over financial responsibility for the fatal crash.

The dispute centers on each party’s financial liability in the 2008 accident that killed twenty-five people and injured more than 100 others.  Metrolink and the train operator French company Veolia Environment are arguing over their share of the $200 million settlement offered to people injured in the collision, as well as families of those were killed in the accident. Veolia Environment was contracted with Metrolink through its subsidiary Connex.  The train engineer at the controls of the Metrolink train at the time of the accident was an employee of Veolia.

Earlier this year, Veolia claimed that at the time of the contract, Metrolink had promised to pay all claims arising out of any accident.  According to Veolia, Metrolink promised to pay all claims without any limitation and regardless of clause.  However, after the Chatsworth collision took place, and when it became apparent that claims would run into the hundreds of millions of dollars, Veolia found that Metrolink had just $150 million in liability coverage.  Under federal law, Metrolink’s liability is capped at $200 million.  With Metrolink running short of insurance coverage, it fell back to Veolia Environment to come up with the remaining $50 million in order to complete the $200 million compensation fund.

California legislators asked Veolia to pay more than its share of the compensation fund, taking into consideration the severe injuries suffered by many of the victims of the crash, and the long-term expenses involved in their care.  However, Veolia has refused to pay more, and has informed California legislators about Metrolink’s contractual obligations.   Metrolink fired back against Veolia in a letter sent to Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer.  According to Metrolink, Veolia has failed to take responsibility for its actions.

Last month, a judge divided a $200 million settlement among more than 100 plaintiffs.  But California train accident lawyers believe that the settlement was millions of dollars short of the amount needed to cover future medical care for these patients.

On September 12, 2008, a Metrolink train crashed into a freight train near Chatsworth, Los Angeles.  An investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board found that the accident was caused because the engineer at the controls of the Metrolink train was distracted and ran a red light, resulting in a head-on collision between the freight train and the commuter train.  Twenty five people were killed in the tragedy, and dozens more were injured, many of them left with serious life altering injuries, like spinal cord injuries and brain injuries. Veolia alleges that while its engineer’s conduct contributed to the crash, there were other factors too that were also responsible for the tragedy.

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