Families in Metrolink Crash to Get as Much as $4.2 Million
A Metrolink passenger train ended up on the same shared track as a Union Pacific freight train. The two collided at nearly 40 mph.
The families of Metrolink passengers killed in an collision in Chatsworth will receive an average of $4.2 million each under a formula worked out by a Los Angeles Judge Thursday, it was reported.
In a 48-page judgment, Superior Court Judge Peter D. Lichtman wrote of the difficulty he faced in deciding how to divide the $200 million and to compensate survivors and relatives of the 25 people killed in the crash, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The accident occurred in September 2008, when the Metrolink passenger train ended up on the same shared track as a Union Pacific freight train. The two collided at nearly 40 mph. The crash was caused by contract Metrolink engineer Robert Sanchez, who ran a red light while text-messaging on a cellphone, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. He was among those killed.
Awards to 98 people injured in the accident ranged as low as $12,000, according to the Times.
In February, U.S. District Judge George H. Wu gave final approval to the settlement, which signifies that Metrolink and Connex Railroad, a subsidiary of a French-owned conglomerate and the contractor that supplied its engineers, accepted the maximum $200 million in liability.
The fund relieves Metrolink and Connex of any additional liability, which federal law caps at $200 million for passenger rail accidents.
The fund is "a quick, equitable and efficient way to compensate all claims asserted by, or on behalf of, injured or deceased passengers" of the collision, Wu wrote in a previous filing.
