The Glendale train crash occurred on January 26, 2005 at 6:03 a.m. PST, at a railroad crossing on the boundary of Glendale and Atwater Village neighbourhood of Los Angeles, California. The crash, which involved two bi-level commuter trains operated by Metrolink, and a Union Pacific freight train killed eleven people. It was the deadliest train crash in California's history, and equalled the number of deaths of the March 1999 accident in Bourbonnais, Illinois, Illinois, making it the deadliest crash in almost six years.
The incident occurred as a result of the southbound train hitting a Jeep Cherokee that had been abandoned on the railroad crossing by Juan Manuel Alvarez, a twenty-five year old man from Compton, California. Authorities initially said Alvaraz was planning to commit suicide, although police and trial prosecutors now believe otherwise. Alvarez has been charged with eleven counts of murder, and could face the death penalty. His trail is scheduled to begin on April 28, 2008.