(The Associated Press circulated the following story by Jason Pesick on February 10, 2009.)
LOS ANGELES — The National Transportation Safety Board has scheduled a hearing on last year’s deadly collision of a Metrolink commuter train and a Union Pacific freight train in Los Angeles.
The safety board said Tuesday that the two-day proceeding will begin March 3 in Washington, D.C.
The Sept. 12 head-on collision in the Chatsworth area of Los Angeles killed 25 people aboard the Metrolink train and caused numerous injuries.
Among the dead was the Metrolink engineer, who had been receiving and sending text messages by cell phone while on duty.
NTSB member Kitty Higgins says the hearing will include testimony on use of cell phones, calling out of train signals, oversight of operating rules and compliance with those rules on the day of the accident.
Topics will also include a safety system known as positive train control.