The engineer of the Metra train that derailed Sept. 17 is sorry two people died in the South Side accident but said he is not responsible because he was signaled to go ahead at high speed.
“To be at the controls of a train where two people lost their lives and 80-some were injured, I mean, that’s devastating,” Michael Smith said. “It really is.”
But, he added, “with clear signals come a clear conscience.”
Preliminary data gathered by the National Transportation Safety Board indicate the signals were working properly and would have directed Smith to slow to 10 m.p.h. from nearly 70 m.p.h. in order to switch tracks.
The NTSB tried to recreate a situation in which the signal was green even though the tracks were aligned for switching. It could not.
In an interview with reporters, Smith, 39, relived the accident and his experience of walking into a train car where passengers were moaning and a bone was protruding from one woman’s foot.
“That’s when it hit me,” he said.
Instead of helping passengers, he returned to the empty lead train car and sat down.
“I was just absolutely numb,” he said. “I knew there was nothing I could do. The fire and police were on the scene. I was just like, ‘Let me stay out of the way.’ “
Metra spokeswoman Judy Pardonnet would not comment on Smith’s remarks, noting the NTSB is investigating the accident. An NTSB spokeswoman said the probe continues.The train departed at about 7:24 a.m. from Joliet. Smith had been trained on the Rock Island District Line but had worked the route just 10 times since Aug. 30, when he was certified as a Metra engineer. He had switched tracks at the 48th Street crossover four times, he said.
At least 17 seconds before he reached 53rd Street, Smith could see the overhead signals–green over red–telling him to proceed straight, he said. If he were supposed to switch tracks, the signals would have been yellow.
Smith, who was wearing sunglasses, said the sun was not in his eyes, as it had been earlier in the trip. He was not using a cell phone or reading a newspaper, he said.
Passing through 53rd Street, he accelerated north. He could see the 48th Street signal telling him he would not switch tracks, he said.
About 20 yards before the crossover, he noticed the tracks were aligned for a switch. By the time he moved his hand from the throttle to the brake, he was in the 10 m.p.h. crossover, he said.
Smith braced himself.
“It was a rocky ride,” Smith said. “I will say that fear did not set in until after the train stopped.” Smith is now preparing his defense for an Oct. 27 Metra disciplinary hearing. He said he has an uphill battle because his account contradicts data gathered at the scene. But he is confident he will operate trains again.
“I’m a locomotive engineer,” he said. “That’s where I belong.”
———-
Edited by Cara DiPasquale (cdipasquale@tribune.com) and Scott Kleinberg (skleinberg@tribune.com)
