Q&AZ: What happens to Valley Metro light rail trains after they crash?

According to data from the Arizona Department of Transportation, a car collides with a Valley Metro light rail train in Phoenix every 16 days on average.

As part of our Q&AZ reporting project, KJZZ went to find out: What happens to these damaged trains?

Rob Rosenberg is the deputy chief of rail maintenance at Valley Metro. He said he has worked on every single impact since the system became operational in 2007.

“The scene is basically turned over to us,” Rosenberg said. “We'll get the rail vehicle out of the way, then we'll do an assessment of the overhead systems and the infrastructure to develop a plan to determine how we can get that back up and running.”

Rosenberg said a full investigation takes place to determine what caused the collision and if it’s economical to repair the train. He said 95% of at-grade collisions are the fault of the motor vehicle driver.

“The trains have an event recorder, kind of like a plane's black box,” Rosenberg said. “So we evaluate speeds, throttle position, so we do a full investigation on every single accident, no matter how major or minor it is.”

Rosenberg said light rail vehicles are towed by another train for evaluation and repair. In most cases, the damage is minor, but if it's major, the vehicle’s Japanese manufacturer — Kinkisharyo — is consulted to see if it is economical to repair the vehicle.

Rosenberg said in 20 years, only five collisions were too severe to repair the train.

According to ADOT, 202 car and light rail collisions occurred in Phoenix from 2015 to 2024.

A spokesperson for Valley Metro says it’s updating a 2010 report that recommended for signals and signage to be improved to prevent at-grade collisions.