SAN ANGELO, Texas (Reuters) - Union Pacific Corp said on Thursday that it will adjust the signal system at the Midland, Texas, train crossing where four veterans were killed when a freight train the company operated slammed into a parade float last month.
The company said that the crossing meets federal regulations but that it plans to “improve buffer time,” which it described as time beyond what is required for the signal system.
“The buffer time is added to further ensure that the signal system always provides the warning time required by the federal government - as it did on the day of the accident that occurred on November 15,” Union Pacific spokeswoman Raquel Espinoza said in a statement.
The collision between the train and the parade float occurred at the start of a weekend of festivities to honor veterans wounded in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. At least 14 people were injured in the crash.
Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board said the warning bells began sounding and lights flashed at the intersection 20 seconds before the train arrived.
Union Pacific did not say how long before the arrival of a train the new signals would activate.
Two lawyers representing some of the injured veterans and their wives said Thursday that their experts found the problem with the crossing and that Union Pacific agreed to fix it. The group is suing Union Pacific as well as the company that provided the flatbed trailer used as a float.
"Every one of our clients made it very clear that their No. 1 priority in this case is to make sure nothing like this ever happ
Remember UP has a History of Problems with Crossings and Hitting things where they are found at Fault. Lexington IL comes to mind where they Whoops Forgot to Remove the Shunts on a Set of Crossings and 2 Kids where Wiped out at a Gated Crossing that failed to Activate when an Amtrak train moving at 79 MPH slammed into them. UP even went so far as to try and cover up the accident by having their Signal Maint man come back and Remove the Shunts to make it look like it was the Drivers Fault. Then while it was Still CNW however UP was in Control and we all know it the Barrington Crash where they Failed to retime the Lights up there and 6 School Kids where killed when a Metra Train slammed into their School Bus. When the Plaintiffs already have found a Problem and UP is moving to FIX it how big was the Problem.
OK, I’m going to make a New Year’s resolutiion to not let post such as this one bother me so much. When I read false accusations such as these, I’m just going to wait until the appropriate time of day, then try to mellow out with a good glass of wine and seek spiritual healing through meditatioin and prayer.
But it ain’t New Years yet!
The quoted post is blatantly untrue. If someone is going to make such damning accusations against another person or a company then that person should be very sure that his/her facts are correct. In this case, the quoted accusations bear virtually no resemblance to the facts. The UP certainly did not try to cover up an accident by falseifying anything.
Even the locations given in the quoted post are incorrect.
The UP signal maintainer did cause the grade crossing accident at McLean, IL. But he was not following prescribed procedures and even took the crossing signals out of service without notifying the dispatcher. There is no basi
GH one of those KIDS was a Member of a Coworkers Family. Under Oath when Deposed when the Signal Maint man told his Bosses what he had Done in the Civil Suit well lets just say UP went Ballastic they ORDERED Him to go back and Get the Shunt Lie to the Investigators of the State Police it was ONLY when a Video of the Crash Came out that Showed the Crossing Failed to Activate did UP Admit they WERE WRONG. He was ORDERED by his Boss to Remove the Shunts knowing what they would cause the UP in Damages he stuck to his Story UNTIL that Video came out.
Do not give me that Crap that UP does not Cover up accidents they sure as HELL did in this case and until they got Caught they were Blaming the Kids that they KILLED.