http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-metrolink27-2008sep27,0,872717.story

Metrolink adds second engineer to some trains
Relief engineers will ride shotgun on some routes, in a move intended as an interim safety measure.
By Jeff Gottlieb, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
2:55 PM PDT, September 26, 2008
Under pressure to take safety measures, the Metrolink commuter rail agency has begun adding a second engineer to some of its trains.

Chief Executive David R. Solow, made the announcement today at a meeting of Metrolink's Board of Directors.

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He said the engineers will come from a pool of employees used to replace engineers who are on vacation, sick or out on training. Previously, when those members of the "extra board" were not running trains, they performed administrative work or collected fares.

The number of them riding shotgun will change each day, Solow said, depending on how many already are filling in as engineers.

"It's just an interim measure until we can find something permanent," he said in an interview.

There are 10 to 15 relief engineers a day, Solow said, and it is unknown how many will be available. They will be posted on routes near where they are permanently assigned.

Solow said he was not sure if the first two-engineer train had taken to the rails.

The move toward two engineers comes after a Metrolink train failed to heed a warning light on Sept. 12 and crashed head-on into a Union Pacific freight train in Chatsworth. Twenty-five people died and 135 were injured in the most deadly commuter rail accident in modern California history.

jeff.gottlieb@latimes.com