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The incident is notable for its magnitude, involving two passenger trains, a freight train, and a Jeep Grand Cherokee abandoned on the tracks by Juan Manuel Alvarez . Authorities initially said Alvarez was planning to commit suicide and charged him with 11 counts of murder with "special circumstances." Police say recent investigations indicate Alvarez may have intended to cause the crash without committing suicide. Authorities have filed additional charges against him for murder with intent. BACKGROUND Although Southern California is known for its Automobile -dependent population, frequent Traffic Jam s and relatively high Gasoline prices make rail travel an attractive alternative, at least for those working in downtown Los Angeles. In the early morning Rush Hour period, the northbound train (leaving Los Angeles) normally carries 30–50 passengers; the southbound train (entering Los Angeles) normally has 200–250 people on board. The freight train involved in the accident was "parked up", waiting its turn to deliver Track Ballast to repair tracks on the former Southern Pacific Railroad 's Coast Line (so called because it runs along California's coast from Ventura County through Santa Barbara to San Luis Obispo ) washed out by major January 2005 Rainstorm s. The next day, police prevented a similar incident in Irvine, California , where a suicidal man parked his car on Metrolink tracks. He drove away from the tracks when police arrived, however, and they were able to arrest him, preventing another disaster from occurring. Regular Metrolink passenger service was restored through the accident scene on Monday, January 31 2005 . INVESTIGATION A National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) team is investigating the crash. The Brotherhood Of Locomotive Engineers And Trainmen 's (BLET) Safety Task Force is assisting the NTSB. The Glendale Police Department is leading the criminal investigation, assisted by the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department and the Los Angeles Police Department . Initial reports suggest that the southbound Metrolink train hit the parked Jeep on a . The root cause of the accident is attributed to the driver of the automobile, Juan Manuel Alvarez of Compton , who drove his vehicle onto the tracks while attempting to commit suicide. Having slashed his wrists and stabbed himself repeatedly in the chest, he parked his car on the tracks to finish the attempt. However, the driver changed his mind and attempted to leave the railroad tracks. Because he was unable to dislodge his vehicle from the rain-soaked gravel and slick rails, he abandoned the vehicle moments before the crowded train approached. (There is some speculation that the driver may have inflicted the wounds on himself after the crash, based on some early reports by witnesses). Both this causation and the end result have many similarities to that of the Ufton Nervet Rail Crash in the United Kingdom , which occurred only three months previously, although in that case the driver of the car stayed in the vehicle and was killed. Some early rumors of the incident being a Terrorist Attack have been dismissed, as no connections to any Terrorist Organization exist with the suspect. Police on the scene found Alvarez wandering the streets repeating "I'm sorry"; they remanded him into custody after determining that it was his vehicle parked on the tracks. Facing 11 counts of Murder , he pleaded not guilty at his Arraignment on February 15 2005 . Prosecutors have stated that they may seek the Death Penalty . Although initial reports indicated that he had stabbed himself in an effort to finish the suicide, no such wounds were evident at the arraignment hearing. The judge ordered that he remain in custody without bail until a hearing scheduled for March 16 2005 to determine if there is enough evidence to try him on these charges. On Friday, August 26 2005 , prosecutors officially announced that they would seek the death penalty against Alvarez, and were prepared to use a rarely cited "train wrecking" statute in California law. {Link without Title} REACTION The train wreck called intense attention to the train configuration. Metrolink trains are pushed from the back by the locomotive when returning to Los Angeles Union Station; the first car is a special passenger car with controls for an engineer at the end. The rear-pushed configuration means that the engine does not need to be swapped; elaborate turnarounds are not needed to reverse the engine's direction. There was severe criticism that this rear-pushed configuration made the accident worse: many people claimed that if the heavier engine were in front, the train would not have jackknifed and cause the second train to derail (In this way it was similar to the Selby Rail Crash in the United Kingdom ). Immediately following the accident, Metrolink temporarily roped off the first cars in all of their trains; passengers sat starting in the second car. Currently, the first seating section of these cars are roped off when travelling in the "push" configuration, but passengers can sit in the remaining sections. The D.A's quick charge of Murder was also criticized for being too hasty and untrue. While Alaverez did park his car, he also attempted to move it out, and some people felt that the charge of Manslaughter would have been more appropriate to this case. CASUALTIES A total of 11 passengers were killed in the collision. Between 100 and 200 people were injured. In terms of casualties, the crash had the same Death Toll as the March 15 , 1999 Bourbonnais Train Accident , making it the deadliest U.S. train crash in almost six years. Fatalities in this accident were:
In remembrance of the accident, all Metrolink train engineers were asked to sound their trains' horns at 12:01 Pacific Time, February 2 2005 . REFERENCES
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