Federal investigators to test DC’s automated train controls in probe of crash that killed 9

July 22nd, 2009 NTSB: Human error eyed as cause of SF train crashSAN FRANCISCO — Federal investigators say they are focusing on human error as the cause of a light-rail train crash in San Francisco that injured dozens of people after finding no indication of mechanical or systems failures. The National Transportation Safety Board said Wednesday the operator of the San Francisco Municipal Railway train in Saturday's collision told investigators he blacked out before the crash.

July 20th, 2009 Union: SF train operator blacked out before crashSAN FRANCISCO — A light-rail operator blacked out just before his train crashed into a parked train, injuring dozens of passengers, the president of San Francisco's transit workers union said Monday. Union president Irwin Lum told The Associated Press a "medical condition" was to blame for the driver's loss of consciousness.

July 14th, 2009 Sleep disorder likely factor in trolley crashWASHINGTON — A federal safety panel said Tuesday that the trolley operator who died after her train rammed another trolley in a Boston crash last year had ignored a red stop signal, likely because she suffered from an undiagnosed sleep disorder that caused her to briefly fall asleep. The finding came in the National Transportation Safety Board's final report on the May 2008 collision in suburban Newton, Mass.

July 1st, 2009 Mourners gather to remember 'hero' train operatorBUFFALO, N.Y. — Mourners are gathering in upstate New York to remember a Washington, D.C., train operator credited with saving lives in last week's rail crash that killed her and eight passengers.

July 1st, 2009 NTSB: DC train signal failed before crashWASHINGTON — Investigators say equipment that is supposed to detect stopped trains failed periodically in the days leading up to a deadly Metro transit train crash in Washington, D.C. Nine people were killed and more than 70 injured June 22 when a train slammed into another train stopped on tracks.

June 29th, 2009 Person struck and killed by Metro trainWASHINGTON — Metro says a person has been struck and killed by a train at a station on the red line in Maryland just outside Washington. The transit agency says the person was struck by an eight-car train shortly after 4 p.m.

June 26th, 2009 Memorial service set for operator in DC crashWASHINGTON — A memorial service will be held for the operator of a Washington Metro train involved in Monday's crash. Jeanice McMillan, 42, of Springfield, Va., was to be remembered Friday morning at the Temple of Praise Fellowship Hall in D.C.

June 26th, 2009 Control system chief reassigned following DC crashWASHINGTON — The train operator killed this week in a Washington commuter rail crash was a hero who saved lives, the Metro transit agency's general manager said Friday. John Catoe told relatives, friends and colleagues who gathered at a Washington church that 42-year-old Jeanice McMillan was not just doing her job when she was operating the train.

June 26th, 2009 Metro superintendent reassigned following crashWASHINGTON — The Washington-area mass transit authority has temporarily reassigned the superintendent of the automatic control system that is supposed to prevent train crashes. Federal investigators said Thursday that Metro's signaling system failed to detect a test train stopped in the same place as one that was struck during a deadly crash this week.

June 25th, 2009 DC Metro red line stations open after crashWASHINGTON — Metro is reopening all the stations along its red line during the morning and evening rush hours after a crash earlier this week killed nine people. The crash occurred on the red line between the Fort Totten and Takoma stations.

June 24th, 2009 NTSB: Train stopped then started before crashWASHINGTON — Federal safety officials are investigating a passenger's statement that the Washington Metrorail train that struck another in a deadly accident stopped briefly then started again before the crash. National Transportation Safety Board investigators are interviewing surviving passengers on the trains involved in the accident that killed nine and injured more than 70 others.

June 24th, 2009 Investigators seek why automated train didn't stopWASHINGTON — Federal investigators were testing the automated controls for Washington D.C. transit trains Wednesday, hoping to figure out why the computerized system designed to prevent collisions failed in a deadly crash this week.

June 24th, 2009 Train crash investigators want cell, text recordsWASHINGTON — Federal investigators want the cell phone and texting records from the operator of a Washington subway train that smashed into another train to determine whether she was distracted before the crash. Debbie Hersman of the National Transportation Safety Board says the request for the records is part of broader examination of what might have caused the accident that killed nine people and injured scores of others Monday.

June 23rd, 2009 5 of those killed in DC metro crash identifiedWASHINGTON — Officials are identifying five of the victims killed in a subway train crash in Washington, D.C. Metro officials said at a special board meeting Tuesday that four passengers ranging in age from 23 to 64 were killed when a train barreling down the tracks hit a stopped train a day earlier.

April 29th, 2009 6 killed in train crash in southern IndiaNEW DELHI — Two men seized the controls of a passenger train in southern India and rammed it into another train Wednesday, killing themselves and four passengers, news reports said. Another 11 people were injured when the men, who were not authorized to operate the electric train, drove it into a goods train at Vyasarpadi Jeeva station on the outskirts of Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu state, Press Trust of India news agency reported, quoting railway officials.