Overworked Rail Workers Causes Fatigue: Probe looks at whether Metrolink engineer's split shift played part in deadly crash
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-trainfatigue18-2008sep18,0,6972242.story

Probe looks at whether Metrolink engineer's split shift played part in deadly crash
Robert Sanchez began work Friday before dawn, took a midday break and was supposed to have finished at 9 p.m. Experts say such schedules can lead to fatigue, and thereby threaten safety.
By Dan Weikel, Rich Connell and Robert J. Lopez, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
September 18, 2008
Federal investigators are trying to determine whether back-to-back, split-shift workdays that began before dawn and ended at 9 p.m. played a role in a Metrolink engineer's failure to heed warning lights in last week's crash that left 25 people dead.

Engineer Robert M. Sanchez's regular five-day workweek was spread over nearly 53 hours, according to authorities. He would have been near the end of that schedule Friday afternoon when his train sped through a red light and collided head-on with a Union Pacific freight train.

Robert Sanchez's split shift

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National Transportation Safety Board member Kitty Higgins told The Times that she was "very concerned" about Sanchez's schedule, saying a "human performance team" will pursue evidence that might shed light on the possible effects of Sanchez's shift.

"It's a long day," she said.

Typically, Sanchez worked five days of identical shifts: He began his day just before 6 a.m., worked until almost 9:30 a.m. and took a 4 1/2 -hour break before beginning a seven-hour shift at 2 p.m., according to the NTSB. The crash occurred Friday at 4:23 p.m.