March 3 (Bloomberg) -- Crew members on both the Metrolink passenger train and the Union Pacific Corp. freight locomotive that collided in Los Angeles last year were sending text messages before the accident that killed 25 people, an inquiry showed.

The Union Pacific crew member, a conductor, also tested positive for marijuana after the Sept. 12 accident, the deadliest U.S. passenger train crash since 1993, according to evidence presented today at a National Transportation Safety Board hearing in Washington.

The NTSB released documents today, including the Metrolink engineer’s text-message log and crew toxicology results, from a multi-agency investigation on the accident. The crash has spurred a federal ban on mobile-phone use by train operators and a new law requiring automatic braking systems on trains. A Los Angeles rail official today called for cameras in train cabs.

“Was this just one crew disobeying the rules? Or was this part of a larger pattern?” Kitty Higgins, the NTSB board member in charge of the investigation, said to reporters during a break at the hearing. “It’s not enough to have rules on the books; they have to be followed.”

The accident caused $10.6 million in damages, according to the NTSB.

The transportation board previously recommended that federal rail-safety regulators require voice recorders in trains and consider mandating the use of cameras to provide data that could be used in accident investigations, said Bob Chipkevich, director of the board’s office that investigates rail accidents. Labor unions have opposed requiring cameras in locomotive cabs.

Red Signal

The board said the Metrolink engineer, Robert Sanchez, didn’t stop at a signal and sent a message on his mobile phone as late as 22 seconds before his train collided with the freight carrier.

“All recorded data and physical evidence in this collision are consistent with the Metrolink train failing to stop at the red signal,” Wayne Workman, the NTSB investigator in charge of the accident investigation, said today. The signal, which some people near the accident scene had said wasn’t working, had a red display that Sanchez ignored, Workman said.

Sanchez, who died in the crash, had also allowed unauthorized people in his locomotive the week of the accident and had plans to do so again the evening of the crash, which occurred at 4:22 p.m. local time, Workman said at the hearing.

Text Messaging

Sanchez sent 21 text messages, received 22 and made four outgoing phone calls during his time on-duty the day of the crash, according to NTSB documents. He had been warned twice by supervisors about using a mobile phone while on the job, according to evidence presented in the hearing.

Kenneth Squires, the conductor, was one of three Union Pacific crew members aboard the train. All survived the accident.

Squires sent and received 41 text messages while on duty the day of the crash, according to his phone records. The board didn’t release a transcript of his messages, as it did for Sanchez.

Sanchez, whose phone records were obtained through a subpoena and search warrant, worked a split shift, first ferrying commuters during the morning rush hour. He was employed by Connex, which provides engineers, conductors and other staff to the Southern California Regional Rail Authority’s Metrolink.

Mobile Phone Use

Metrolink rules prohibited any non-emergency use of mobile phones while on duty. After the crash, the Federal Railroad Administration banned train operators from using personal communication devices while on duty.

Sanchez exchanged messages all week, including with an unidentified student, one of the people he let ride along three days before the crash, according to the phone records the NTSB obtained. Sanchez allowed at least one of his riders to take the train’s controls, according to the text-message log.

“Running a train,” the student wrote in a text message to Sanchez the morning before a ride. “I just cant believe it. Im gonna do it. Omg.”

Sanchez was text-messaging with the student, who was excited about taking the train’s controls later that day, until just before the crash, according to the records.

“Im starting to get butterflies just a little bit,” the student wrote at 10:54 a.m. that day.

Lack of Oversight

Higgins, the NTSB board member, faulted Connex for lack of oversight of its employees. Connex has increased supervision since the accident, said Tom McDonald, its general manager.

“If you have an employee who’s not going to comply with the rules, it’s very difficult,” he said. “But we have stepped up our game.”

The board is scheduled to hear testimony tomorrow from rail labor unions and federal regulators.

According to the toxicology results, the Union Pacific conductor, who was in the locomotive with an engineer, was the only crew member on either train to test positive for illegal drugs or alcohol. Sanchez tested positive for prescription drugs used to treat high blood pressure and diabetes, according to the results.

To contact the reporters on this story: Angela Greiling Keane in Washington at agreilingkea@bloomberg.net; John Hughes in Washington at jhughes5@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: March 3, 2009 17:36 EST