Metrolink

Metrolink engineers are now being recorded by video cameras in all of the commuter rail agency's locomotives. Installation of the cameras comes in response to the deadly 2008 rail crash in Chatsworth that apparently involved a distracted engineer. "Metrolink becomes the first rail system in the entire nation, passenger or freight, to install and operate these cameras," Metrolink Board Chairman Keith Millhouse said at a morning news conference Monday at the agency's maintenance facility near Elysian Park.

As the anniversary of the Sept. 12 Chatsworth train disaster approaches, officials with Southern California's sprawling commuter rail service are facing a vexing array of technical, financial and potential legal challenges as they struggle to deliver on pledges of trailblazing safety reforms. A burst of energy to remake the region's Metrolink train operation was unleashed by the deadliest rail collision in modern California history, a watershed event that killed 25, injured 130 and prompted landmark federal mandates to modernize the nation's rail safety systems.

California officials lack the authority to determine whether Metrolink was partly responsible for the deaths of 11 people in a commuter train crash in 2005, lawyers for the transit service argued Tuesday. Facing skeptical state judges in Los Angeles, Metrolink lawyers argued that federal railroad regulations ban most attempts by California to improve commuter rail safety. Only the federal government can do that, lawyers for Metrolink argued.

A year has come and gone, and Karol Potter is dreading another long, hot summer. A loyal Metrolink rider, she complained last year that the bustling, sun-baked east platform of the Santa Ana train station lacked basic human comforts, such as shade, drinking water and restrooms.

A Compton man willfully caused a deadly commuter train wreck three years ago in an extreme, but apparently successful, attempt to regain the affections of his estranged wife, prosecutors said Monday. "He needed to do something big to get her attention," prosecutor Cathryn Brougham said during opening statements in the trial of Juan Manuel Alvarez, who on Jan. 26, 2005, parked his vehicle over railway tracks and fled minutes before it was hit by an oncoming Metrolink train.

Juan Manuel Alvarez exhibited bizarre and delusional behavior for at least five years before causing a deadly Metrolink crash three years ago, his wife testified Tuesday. Carmelita Alvarez said her husband -- who is on trial for murder -- was extremely possessive of her and often accused her of having affairs, even with her own nephew. He also tried to kill himself three times, she said during two days of testimony that began Monday. "I had to be in the middle of the bed facing him.

Despite a defendant's testimony that he was overcome with remorse for triggering a train wreck that killed 11 people three years ago, prosecutors Wednesday portrayed Juan Manuel Alvarez as a manipulative liar who often carried a weapon and sometimes threatened violence. Peppered by rapid-fire questions from Deputy District Atty. John Monaghan, Alvarez acknowledged that he would carry a knife -- sometimes a machete -- and at one time damaged his brother-in-law's car and paid $1,000 to fix it.

Commuter rail ridership broke an all-time record this week, and Caltrans reported a dip in freeway traffic as commuters across California struggled with record gasoline prices. Metrolink recorded its highest number of riders in a single day Tuesday -- 50,232 -- a 15.6% increase over the volume on the Tuesday of the same week last year. Metro Rail ridership has also risen, shooting up 6% last month over May 2007, with the downtown L.A.

After nearly eight weeks of testimony, a jury Tuesday started deliberating the fate of a Compton man who left his vehicle on railroad tracks and caused a deadly Metrolink wreck three years ago. Juan Manuel Alvarez, 29, is charged with 11 counts of murder and one count each of arson and train-wrecking. He could face the death penalty if convicted. "Don't forget these 11 victims," Deputy Dist. Atty. Cathryn Brougham told the jury as she concluded her closing arguments Tuesday.

Metrolink fares will increase an average of 5.5% beginning Tuesday to help pay for rising fuel costs. The rate hike is expected to generate about $3 million in additional revenue for the rail operator, officials said. Diesel fuel costs are almost $4.8 million more than the agency allocated for the current fiscal year. "We did not anticipate diesel fuel doing what it did this year," said Denise Tyrrell, a Metrolink spokeswoman. "We budgeted for $2.50 per gallon, and now it's over $4.50 a gallon.