Ms. Sarah Feinberg Acting Administrator Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE Washington, DC 20590 Re: PRESS RELEASE NUMBER: 2015-07 Dear Ms. Feinberg: I was saddened to see the accident on Metrolink’s Ventura County Line this morning, resulting in tragic injuries and loss of life. The effects on families and friends must not be underestimated. Although Federal Railroad Administration investigators undoubtedly will conduct an investigation to determine the factors that contributed to this accident, a straightforward and even cursory examination of the photos of the scene reveals why this accident was as bad as it was. Specifically, the train was being run in a ‘reverse’ mode, that is, with the driving engine at the back, pushing the train, instead of at the front, pulling it. Had the accident occurred with the engine at the front, the accident would still have been as bad for the driver of the vehicle that somehow ended up on the tracks in front of an oncoming train at 60 mph. But for the train itself, due to the significantly greater mass of the engine, a shorter and more compact frame, followed by the passenger cars, it would have been a minor accident, not the one that resulted. You see, with the engine pushing the cars, which are much lighter than the engine, and the long lever-arm of the undercarriage of the cars, it took very little mass underneath to derail the cars, and once derailed, they went flying. It has been said, in FRA’s press release on the matter, that “Safety must be every railroad's absolute top priority. [It is FRA’s mandate to] establish what lapses, if any, occurred and order any necessary corrective actions."  I would suggest that, until this matter of running trains backwards is addressed, the problem will persist. Sincerely, Dirk J. Bouma, PE