Even as the first claim was made against Metrolink in the aftermath of the Chatsworth train disaster, legal experts are already saying the crash is likely to lead to hundreds of millions, if not billions in civil lawsuits.

Metrolink's position, say experts, is further complicated because the agency admitted that its own engineer error was the likely cause - a stance from which it is now attempting to back away from.

On Monday, the family of a 19-year-old woman who died in Friday's Metrolink crash announced it has filed a claim against the agency, alleging the agency failed to employ available safety mechanisms to protect commuters.

The claim made by relatives of Aida Magdaleno, a student at California State University, Northridge, is a precursor to filing a lawsuit against a public agency.

The agency already faces a potentially costly trial in the civil lawsuit brought by almost 200 plaintiffs in the Jan. 26, 2005 Metrolink derailment in which 11 people died and another 180 were injured.

Although that crash was caused by a mentally deranged man who last month was sentenced to 11 consecutive life sentences for his role, plaintiffs' lawyers are set to argue safety issues, including Metrolink's practice of pushing trains with the engine in the rear as it does on southbound trains from Ventura to Union Station.

That lawsuit is scheduled for trial next June 8.

As a governmental agency, lawyers noted, Metrolink cannot be subjected to punitive damages in any civil action - a situation those lawyers said likely protects it from a bankruptcy situation.
A spokesman for Metrolink said the agency would not be making any comments on potential legal issues.

Attorney Jerome Ringler, who served as lead counsel for victims of a Metrolink train derailment in Placentia in 2002, those in a Burbank derailment in 2003, and in the Glendale derailment in 2005, said the Chatsworth crash could expose further fault with Metrolink.

"I suspect the real reason these tragedies occurred is due to either simple inattentivenesss on the part of the engineers or a failure on the part of the railrood industry to allow these engineers adequate rest between shifts so that these kind of tragedies could be avoided," Ringler said.

"This is a horrible tragedy. They are facing hundreds upon hundreds of millions of dollars of exposure."

The latest Metrolink crash set off a flurry of activity from some law firms for clients among the victims' relatives - some already calling victims' families or showing up at their homes.