Crossing at scene of California rail crash was a big problem before accident - Business Insider
(Reuters) - The rail crossing where a California commuter train plowed into a truck was a known transportation hazard and the scene of a fatal accident as recently as last year, raising questions about why a highway overpass has not been built there. Fifty people were injured in Tuesday's fiery pre-dawn wreck in Oxnard, which flipped over three double-decker Metrolink rail cars and derailed two others. The crossing where the crash took place, at an intersection set between warehouses and farm fields about 45 miles northwest of Los Angeles, has been a railway trouble spot for some time, according to officials and media reports. The crash came just three weeks after a Metro-North commuter train struck a car at a crossing outside New York City and derailed in an accident that killed six people. Robert Sumwalt of the National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the crash, said over 2,000 grade crossing accidents occur every year nationally, killing about 250 people. "We are very concerned about grade crossings, and we intend to use this accident and others to learn from it so that we can keep it from happening again," he told reporters. The unusual junction at Oxnard, which combines a rail crossing and a road intersection, has been the site of at least five other accidents involving trains since 2008, according to media reports. Source: www.businessinsider.com
