Metro Making Progress on Gold Line Repairs

Metro was making progress toward repairing the power pole demolished and Gold Line tracks damaged when a big rig and box truck crashed on the eastbound Foothill (210) Freeway in Pasadena, an official with the transit agency said Sunday night.

Trains will run every 10 minutes starting today between the Atlantic and Lake stations and every 20 minutes between Lake and Sierra Madre Villa stations, said Metro spokeswoman Anna Chen.

"Also, all of the trains will be three-car trains to accommodate more riders," Chen said.

"We ask if you are using the Park and Ride that you allow extra time or use another station nearby," she said. There are Park and Ride facilities at the Del Mar and Fillmore stations which riders can use with their TAP (Transit Access Pass)  card.

Full service should be restored within a few days, Chen said.

The crash disrupting the service happened just before 1 p.m. Thursday at Allen Avenue, when one of the trucks, a big rig hauling a farm tractor, landed on the rail tracks that divide the freeway, resulting in the suspension of rail service between the Sierra Madre Villa and Lake stations.

Metro used buses to shuttle passengers around the Gold Line closure.

As the big rig plowed onto the tracks, it struck one of the Gold Line's power poles, knocking down wires.

The driver of the big rig suffered minor injuries and was taken to a hospital, according to Lisa Derderian of the Pasadena Fire Department. The other vehicle, a box truck, ended up on its side and its driver was taken to a hospital for treatment of serious injuries.

The drivers, both men, were solo occupants of the vehicle they were driving, Derderian said.

A CHP officer said both vehicles were eastbound when the big rig blew a tire and collided with the box truck.

The crash backed up freeway and surface street traffic in the area for a time.

—City News Service