The National Transportation Safety Board has concluded that the September 2008 Chatsworth Metrolink crash was caused when the train engineer ran a red light after being distracted while text messaging.

The crash left 25 dead, including the engineer, Robert Sanchez, who had reportedly sent or received 43 text messages while on duty that day. His last message—to a teenage boy who he had told could operate the train later that day—was made just 22 seconds before the crash.

“For the transportation industry, this accident demonstrates that we must find a way to wrap our arms around the pervasive problem of transportation operators using wireless devices while on the job, whether that job is driving a bus, flying an airplane or operating a train,” said Deborah Hersman, NTSB chair.

The operator of the freight train, who was sitting in the cab but not driving, had also used his phone while on duty and tested positive for marijuana use.

On Sept. 12, 2008, a northbound Metrolink commuter train, holding mostly Moorpark and Simi Valley residents, collided with a Union Pacific freight train, killing 25 and injuring 135 others.

The board ruled that Sanchez ran a red light at the Topanga stop because he was distracted. Testimony from some witnesses who claimed they saw a green light was disregarded.

“Eyewitness reports of seeing a green aspect from the Chatsworth station are contrary to the other evidence,” read the report. “Post-accident testing and research show that witnesses could not have reliably seen the red aspect that the Control Point Topanga signal was displaying as train 111 departed the station because of a combination of extreme distance to the signal (more than one mile), lighting conditions at the time and limitations of the human visual system.”

City Councilmember Keith Millhouse, chair of Metrolink’s board of directors, watched the hearings live on the Internet. The hearings were conducted in Washington, D.C.

“I was angry that this engineer engaged in conduct that the board described as ‘intentional, willful and egregious’ in text messaging while driving the train,” Millhouse said. “I was thinking about the families who lost loved ones and the people who were injured on the train. It was difficult to know they had to go through this again.

“People didn’t need to die if he was doing his job.”

The board ruled that the crash could have been prevented with a positive train control system (PTC), which monitors the speed of the trains and would have stopped the train short of the red signal.

“This accident shows us once again that the safety redundancy of PTC is needed now,” Hersman said. “It can and will save lives, even when operators ignore safety rules or simply make mistakes.”

Following the 16-month investigation, the board recommended to the Federal Railroad Administration that trains be installed with audio and video recorders to be assured that railroad employees are following safety rules.

Sanchez had been reprimanded twice before for using his cellphone while on duty. And on previous occasions, the Metrolink engineer had allowed unauthorized people to join him in the locomotive cab and operate the train.

Despite a lawsuit from union officials, who are claiming the recorders are a violation of privacy, Metrolink installed the cameras last year. The lawsuit is still “working its way through the court system,” Millhouse said.

“I was pleased that the board validated the actions we had taken previously at Metrolink,” Millhouse said. “We took a risk in doing that, but the board confirmed that we were proceeding correctly, being the first railroad in the nation that had these.”

In the aftermath of the crash, a federal ban on cellphone use was implemented, although it was already a violation of company policy at Connex Railroad, the contractor that provides engineers for Metrolink.

Congress also passed a law requiring the installation of positive train control systems on all passenger trains by 2015.

Metrolink plans to have the technology by 2012, although $100 million—nearly half of the cost—is still needed for installation.

“We’ll continue to fight for that money,” said Millhouse, who said the state and federal government should pony up. “This is of critical importance to the entire country.”