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4worldlovers: At 4:22 PM on Friday, September 12, 2008, almost 200 completely innocent Southern California Metrolink #111 Railroad passengers were on their way home for the weekend. See the track diagram. Their locomotive engineer, Robert Sanchez, was employed by Connex Railroad, LLC, a division of Paris, France based Veolia Environnement, which had contracted to provide locomotive engineers, conductors and management to operate the Metrolink railroad throughout 5 Southern California counties.

Connex/Veolia claims to have safety as its number one priority. That website claim is not practiced. Unknown to the Metrolink # 111 passengers, but for weeks well known to upper Veolia/ Connex management, their locomotive engineer, Robert Sanchez, previously busted in 2006 for written cell phone usage rule violation, had again been sending between 25 and 180 text messages per day while on duty, including many while operating (driving) the train. Unknown to them, for several miles that Friday afternoon, Mr. Sanchez failed to call out signals or control the speed of the train as required by written rules. Also unknown to them Mr. Sanchez ran, over speed, past the CP Topanga red signal a mile after leaving the Chatsworth station, as he was sending a text messages to male teenage rail fan friends. Twenty two seconds later, and without any warning, their train hit a freight train traveling over 40 MPH head on, derailing all the locomotives. Their speed went from 43 MPH to 0 and being forced backwards –all within 7 /10 of a second. In this instant, 25 were killed and 150 injured, often catastrophically. The lives of all their families were changed forever.

Now, two years after the rail disaster--- California’s worst, and one of the USA’s most violent — and, short months from the trial which will bring the corporate culprits to justice, begins, the Federal Liability damage limit law is about to victimize them again. On August 25, 2010, the defendants filed a federal interpleader action in the Los Angeles Federal Court, asking the Federal Judge to discharge them from all liability as soon as they deposit the $200 million cap. This 1997 damage limit legislation was introduced to protect Amtrak – but as signed into law looks appears to apply to all culpable parties --- and it will prevent them from recovering about 2/3 of their true legal damages. Also out of their about 1/3 recovery, they will have to repay all the insurance companies who paid their medical costs-- unless you do something to help, now please.

For the Chatsworth Victims to have benefited by the Cap law change, Congress MUST have acted before the Federal Judge rules and his decision became final, that the interpleader lawsuit is proper and that Connex/ Veolia has to pay no more funds for all the harm done these completely innocent passengers. That time has passed; so the Chatsworth Victims will get additional funds only if Veolia volunteers to provide them, like BP did after the Gulf Oil spill. And if Veolia acts like it Website claims it does: to be "Accountable-- especially in safety matters." But future passenger victims will be helped and railroad safety improved if the pending bills are passed by the US Congress.