This reporter, whose credentials include being a witness to an execution, seems to prefer sensationalism to what appears to be a case of distraction. To insinuate that the engineer committed a mass murder/suicide is a reach. But is does sell the news.

I would guess, and it's only a guess, from what I've read that the engineer saw the flashing yellow, the solid yellow and then made a station stop. After the stop he was concerned with an upcoming speed restriction and possibly text messaging. The multiple distractions may have allowed him to forget that he was running on a yellow way back before the station stop, the texting and the speed restriction. If that indeed is what happened then he is certainly at fault but we can begin to understand what led to his error. I believe a crash was blamed on similar circumstances (yellow signal--then a station stop) in Virginia a few years ago. Since we can't eliminate human error 100% of the time one of the mechancial solutions might be a signal directly in advance of where the head end of a train routinely makes station stops. This could be a block signal or "repeater" of the next, out of sight, signal.

As a locomotive engineer I've seen similar situations where a prolonged stop can distract the engineer enough that he forgets that the previous signal was not clear. The "delayed within a block" rule should address this issue as in the Metrolink crash but it does occur.

I'm in favor of proper training, strict adherance to the rules (and enforcement when needed), cab signalling, ATS, derails at meeting points (as in England), an extra crew member in the cab when needed and everything else that can be done to increase safety within reason.