2 workers fatally injured in BART accident
BART officials responded to the scene of a fatal accident involving two workers who were struck by an out-of-service BART train on Saturday October 19. The accident occurred at approximately 1:53 pm between the Walnut Creek and Pleasant Hill stations, approximately one mile north of the Walnut Creek Station.
The workers were performing track inspections in response to a report of a dip in the track at the time of the accident. The deceased include one BART employee, Christopher D. Sheppard, and a contractor, Laurence E. Daniels. Both people had extensive experience working around moving trains in both the freight train and the rapid transit industry. The procedures involved in track maintenance require one employee to inspect the track and the other to act as a lookout and notify of any oncoming traffic.
The train was on a routine maintenance run. At the time of the accident the train was being run in automatic mode under computer control.
BART's General Manager Grace Crunican said, "This is a tragic day in BART's history. The entire BART family is grieving. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of our deceased co-workers. This accident is under investigation. All the proper authorities have been notified."
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Takes Over BART Worker Fatality Accident Investigation
The NTSB has informed BART and the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) that they will take over the investigation into the tragic accident. BART's System Safety Department and the CPUC will provide support and assistance to the NTSB investigators. The NTSB has informed BART that all further public statements about the accident will be made by the NTSB in their role as the investigating agency.
Watch the press conference from October 19th with BART's General Manager and Assistant General Manager of Operations here.
Watch the NTSB press conference from October 20th here
Watch the NTSB press conference from October 21st here
Watch the NTSB press conference from October 22nd here.
Updated: Thursday, October 31, 2013 3:00 pm