Metrolink drivers to be monitored by video camera
Associated Press
10/05/09 10:05 PM PDT
LOS ANGELES — Metrolink announced plans Monday to activate video cameras in all of its commuter trains.
The move comes after a Metrolink passenger train collided head-on with a Union Pacific freight train on Sept. 12, 2008, killing 25 people.
The Metrolink engineer, Robert Sanchez, who was killed, was found to have been text messaging only seconds before the crash.
Metrolink announced Monday that all its 52 passenger trains will have cameras pointing into each locomotive's cab as well as cameras facing outward to record activity in front of the train. Audio will also be recorded.
The union representing the nation's train engineers opposes putting cameras in the trains, and some safety experts question its efficacy.
Metrolink is Southern California's regional commuter rail service, serving Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Riverside counties.
