John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (U.S.)

JRC2011-56132

Proceedings

California

United States. Federal Railroad Administration. Office of Research and Development

NTL-SAFETY AND SECURITY-Accidents ; NTL-SAFETY AND SECURITY-Rail Safety ; NTL-SAFETY AND SECURITY-SAFETY AND SECURITY ; NTL-RAIL TRANSPORTATION-RAIL TRANSPORTATION ; NTL-RAIL TRANSPORTATION-Rail Safety ;

In Glendale, California on January 26, 2005, impact with

an SUV on the track caused a southbound commuter train to

derail, impact a standing freight train, buckle laterally outward,

and rake the side of a northbound commuter train. Significant

deformation resulted in the front of the southbound train and

the side of the northbound train. There were a total of eleven

fatalities and over one hundred injuries. This incident was

investigated as a part of an ongoing field study of occupant

injury in passenger train collisions and derailments currently

being conducted by the United States (US) Department of

Transportation's (DOT) Rail Accident Forensic Team in support

of the Equipment Safety Research Program of the Federal

Railroad Administration (FRA). The Forensic Team

determined that the primary causal mechanism of injuries and

fatalities in the Glendale incident was the loss of occupied

volume of the passenger cars brought about by severe structural

deformation.

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Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, Technical Reference Center
Federal Railroad Administration