Reaction
The train wreck called intense attention to the train configuration. Many commuter trains are pushed from the back by the locomotive, including Metrolink trains returning to Los Angeles Union Station; in a "pusher configuration", the first car is a special passenger car with controls for an engineer at the end (sometimes referred to as the "cab car"). The rear-pushed configuration eliminates elaborate turnaround maneuvers and facilities to reverse a train's direction. There was severe criticism that this rear-pushed configuration made the accident worse: many people claimed that if the heavier engine were ahead of the passenger cars, southbound train #100 would not have jackknifed and cause the second train to derail. This situation is similar to the Selby and Polmont rail crashes in the United Kingdom.
Immediately following the accident, Metrolink temporarily roped off the first cars in all of their trains; passengers sat starting in the second car. Metrolink gradually modified this policy, and as of 2007, the line permits passengers to sit in a portion the first car when in "push mode." Seating is not permitted in a roped-off forwardmost section of the first car just behind the engineer's cab.
The incident has inspired a few television series episodes. A May 2005 episode of Law & Order titled "Locomotion" featured a train that hit an SUV and the subsequent investigation. A June 2005 episode of Strong Medicine contained a storyline that referenced the train wreck.
Read more about this topic: 2005 Glendale Train Crash
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