User:Matthewedwards/Sandbox/Glendale

The Glendale train crash occurred on January 26, 2005 at 6:03 a.m. PST, at a railroad crossing on the boundary of Glendale and Atwater Village neighbourhood of Los Angeles, California. The crash, which involved two bi-level commuter trains operated by Metrolink, and a Union Pacific freight train killed eleven people. It was the deadliest train crash in California's history, and equalled the number of deaths of the March 1999 accident in Bourbonnais, Illinois, Illinois, making it the deadliest crash in almost six years.

The incident occurred as a result of the southbound train hitting a Jeep Cherokee that had been abandoned on the railroad crossing by Juan Manuel Alvarez, a twenty-five year old man from Compton, California. Authorities initially said Alvaraz was planning to commit suicide, although police and trial prosecutors now believe otherwise. Alvarez has been charged with eleven counts of murder, and could face the death penalty. His trail is scheduled to begin on April 28, 2008.

Accident
Although Southern California is known for its automobile-dependent population,   frequent traffic jams and relatively high gasoline prices make rail travel an attractive alternative, at least for those working in downtown Los Angeles.

The freight train involved in the accident was "tied up" (parked), waiting its turn to deliver track ballast to repair tracks on the former Southern Pacific Railroad's Coast Line (so called because it runs along California's coast from Ventura County through Santa Barbara to San Luis Obispo) washed out by major January 2005 rainstorms.

On the morning of January 26, 2005, Juan Manuel Alvarez parked his Jeep Cherokee on the railroad crossing on West Chevy Chase Drive, in what he later told investigators was an attempt to commit suicide. He then decided not to

Reaction and aftermath
The next day, police prevented a similar incident in Irvine, California, where a suicidal man parked his car on Metrolink tracks. He drove away from the tracks when police arrived, however, and they were able to arrest him, preventing another disaster from occurring.

Regular Metrolink passenger service was restored through the accident scene on Monday, January 31 2005.