The only way to avoid accidents like the one in Glendale, said Michael McGinley, Metrolink's engineering director, is to provide the same level of security on railroad rights of way as airport runways. That would mean building bridges or underpasses at every rail crossing and security fences along 512 miles of the system's track.
To build overpasses or underpasses on the 450 railroad crossings in Metrolink's service area would cost roughly $6 billion, according to official estimates, an expense that would have to be borne by local governments.
"Nobody has that kind of money," said Hull of the American Public Transportation Assn. "There are no areas in the U.S. where rights of ways are secured."
Although it may not be possible to seal off rail corridors, Solow said he wants to reexamine all of Metrolink's grade crossings and has set a goal to reduce accidents with motor vehicles.
A range of other, less costly, ideas has been suggested over the years to reduce the risk of push operations, such as warning passengers to avoid sitting in cab cars and using locomotives at both ends of trains.
Locomotives cost about $3.5 million each, meaning Metrolink would have to spend upwards of $140 million to put an extra locomotive in every train. With an annual budget of $280 million, largely subsidized by government, such an expense might not be practical.
"I could do a lot of grade-crossing improvements for $3.5 million, and a locomotive in front does not mean grade-crossing accidents won't happen," Solow said. "I want to reduce grade-crossing accidents."
Times staff writers Doug Smith and Caitlin Liu contributed to this report.
