Feds Begin Probe of San Francisco Bay Area Rail Worker Deaths

A federal investigator says the out-of-service commuter train that struck and killed two San Francisco Bay area transit workers did not have a front-facing video recorder that would help reconstruct the moments leading up to the accident.

But National Transportation Safety Board investigator Jim Southworth told reporters Sunday that interviews, equipment inspections, audio recordings and a video showing part of the train’s cab should provide enough facts to determine what caused the mishap.

Saturday’s accident on Bay Area Rapid Transit tracks in the East Bay city of Walnut Creek took place against the backdrop of a contentious and disruptive labor strike that has kept BART trains from carrying passengers since Friday.

Southworth says that even if the strike ended immediately, the ongoing investigation means it would probably take a few days before trains could run on those tracks.