Chatsworth (Los Angeles) train accident should never happen with UTA.

UTA is doing something that should mean there should never be an accident like the one in Los Angeles involving a public transit passenger train and a freight train last week. That wreck killed more than a dozen people, and many think that the driver was distracted by a text message on his cellphone, whether the text was from him to someone or from someone to him I don't know.

As is widely known, UTA has purchased right-of-way easements for the Frontrunner and in some cases TRAX lines, and occasionally shares segments of these lines with the freight carriers since the Sandy (Blue) line is along an old local freight delivery line, cars are regularly seen at a couple of places, and spurs off the main tracks are seen in a number of places along that line and the forthcoming Mid-Jordan line.

There is also track-sharing between Ogden and Pleasant View, that segment of Frontrunner shouled be up and running by the end of the month according to news reports. In fact, to ensure that Frontrunner and Union Pacific freight trains interact smoothly with each other along the Pleasant View segment of the route, as UTA does not have its own track constructed in this area yet, Union Pacific employees will ride along for the first few days or week or two of operation of the Pleasant View portion of the Frontrunner line.

What UTA is doing about the matter is this. No driver of any train is allowed to use a cellular phone or pager (texting) device while in the cab of the train. If it is found that they are or have used a cellphone or pager while in the cab, they can be fired for doing so.

There have been very few incidents involving trains and other objects, a couple incidents were caused by drivers, one by faulty switching on 7th South, and one instance where a train did hit a car and the train driver was at fault, that one was outed by City Weekly, the local Salt lake area alternative paper. But in nine years of operation, TRAX has proven to be extremely safe, and as time goes, improvements will yet be made to the already excellent safety program employed by UTA in regards to its rail services.