[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 14]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 19094]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     CHATSWORTH TRAIN CRASH TRAGEDY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ELTON GALLEGLY

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, September 15, 2008

  Mr. GALLEGLY. Madam Speaker, on Friday, September 12, 2008, a 
Metrolink commuter train collided with a freight train near Chatsworth, 
California. Most of the passengers were residents of my congressional 
district, on their way home from the Los Angeles area. Twenty-five 
people have been killed and many more critically injured. It was the 
deadliest train accident in this country in fifteen years.
  It is also the second deadly crash on this commuter line in three 
years. This one however, was much worse. As gas prices have 
skyrocketed, Southern California commuters have increasingly turned to 
rail service. Among the dead and injured are law enforcement personnel, 
educators, civil servants, students, and others, who were doing their 
best to save time and money while avoiding some of the worst congestion 
in the country. As reports continue to come in regarding the cause of 
this tragedy, my neighbors in Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, Moorpark, 
Camarillo, Ventura, Santa Paula, and other communities in Ventura 
County now mourn for their loved ones.
  I would like to express my condolences to the families of those who 
lost their lives in this tragedy and offer comfort to those who are 
injured. I assure them we will do everything we can to determine the 
cause and to ensure that something like this never happens again.

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