California Metrolink Victims Claim Inadequate Compensation

As the anniversary of a deadly Metrolink crash approaches, many survivors say a federal liability cap has left them inadequately compensated.

The Los Angeles Times reports only a year after an LA judge rationed a compensation fund among 126 people, some victims are running out of money for long-term care, counseling and living expenses.

In the four years since the crash, attempts by the victims to recover damages ran up against a 1997 federal law that set a liability ceiling of $200 million per passenger rail accident.

Without the cap, Superior Court Judge Peter D. Lichtman estimated the judgments would probably total $350 million or greater.

Twenty-five people were killed on Sept. 12, 2008, when a commuter train struck a freight train head-on in Chatsworth. Nearly 100 people were hurt.