It's hard to know what "bad luck" covers, but the end result is simply a far worse safety record than much larger operators, and the bottom line is that Metrolink seems to be highly sensitive to the reality on the ground.

I'm puzzled, for instance, why the Bombardier style cab cars continue to be OK with FRA, are in use with multiple operators in the US and Canada, and don't have the sorts of horrific accidents supposedly traceable to them here. Yet if there was a design flaw (I'm not sure what it actually was) with the Rotem cars, Metrolink doesn't take the easy solution of reverting to the Bombardier cars they have in storage.

I've heard the argument that the Bombardier cars don't have PTC, but we simply don't know how far Metrolink has gone, or will go, in completing PTC in the near future. And PTC doesn't affect the grade crossing issue.

Has anyobne studied grade crossing design in plaxes like those served by Metra to see if there are differences with how signals, curbs, safety rails are implemented here vs, say, Chicago?