
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, February 20, 1994                   TAG: 9402200113
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: D-7   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS                                LENGTH: Medium

WAS AMTRAK RAIL SWITCH VULNERABLE?

Two earlier incidents of vandalism should have warned Amtrak officials that a switch used to derail a passenger train in 1992 was vulnerable, said lawyers for 51 passengers injured in the wreck.

"A lot of vandalism has occurred on the CSX lines generally, and at this switch in particular," lawyer Stephen Heretick said Friday in U.S. District Court.

But lawyers for Amtrak and CSX, which owns the track, argued that the derailment - triggered by two young Coast Guardsmen who broke a lock and pulled a switch - was unforeseeable.

"I don't see how a jury could conclude that what [the vandals] did was probably going to occur," said Amtrak's lawyer, David Bowen.

About 70 passengers were hurt when the train, traveling 80 mph, ran off the tracks Aug. 12, 1992, at the Bell King Road crossing in Newport News. It was the same spot where another Amtrak train derailed four months earlier after hitting a truck.

In the first crash, a jury held CSX liable and awarded an average of $8,888 to each of nine injured passengers.

In the second case, 51 injured passengers are suing Amtrak and CSX, claiming the companies could have prevented the vandalism and derailment. They seek a total of about $2 million, Heretick said.

In 20 months before the August 1992 crash, there were 22 acts of vandalism to railroad switches and signals in southeastern Virginia, according to CSX records. Most were minor, such as broken lights, but two were at the derailment site.

On Jan. 29, 1992 - seven months before the derailment - three juveniles forced open locks on the switch and pulverized the internal electronic components. This set off a signal at CSX's main control room in Florida. A freight train was halted and no one was hurt.

On May 29, 1992 - three months before the derailment - vandals broke three bulbs and two locks on the back of a signal. This did not affect train traffic, however, because the signal was off the main line.

Heretick said these acts should have warned Amtrak and CSX about the switch's vulnerability. Amtrak "certainly had ample notice that vandals were able repeatedly to damage signals and switches in ways which could result in derailments," he wrote.

On Friday, Amtrak and CSX lawyers asked a judge to throw out the lawsuits, but Judge Robert Payne let the case move forward.

The trial is scheduled to start July 11.

Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.

by CNB