If you were hurt on a BART train, a Metro Rail car, or any other California light rail or commuter system, your first instinct may be to assume your claim works like any other injury case. It does not. Public transit agencies in California are government entities, and the rules for suing a government entity are shorter, stricter, and easier to miss than the rules that apply to a private defendant.
This article breaks down who can be held liable, how the government claim process works, and what you need to do today to protect your right to recover compensation.
If you have already been injured and are trying to figure out your next move, call (818) 794-9947 for a free consultation. No fee unless we win.
Quick-Answer Summary
- California light rail and commuter train operators are generally government entities, which triggers special rules under the California Government Claims Act.
- You must file a government tort claim with the agency within six months of the date of injury before you can sue.
- Transit operators owe passengers the highest duty of care under Cal. Civ. Code §2100.
- Immunity is not absolute. Dangerous-condition liability under Gov. Code §835 can apply.
- Third-party claims against contractors or manufacturers follow a separate timeline.
- Surveillance footage is often overwritten within 72 hours. Act fast.
California's Light Rail and Commuter Train Systems
California runs several large public transit rail systems, each operated by a government agency:
- BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) serves the greater San Francisco Bay Area across five counties.
- Metro Rail (Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, LA Metro) operates six lines across Los Angeles County.
- Metrolink is a commuter rail service connecting Los Angeles to six surrounding counties.
- San Diego Trolley is operated by the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS).
- VTA Light Rail serves Santa Clara County in the South Bay.
- Sacramento Regional Transit runs light rail across the Sacramento metro area.
Every one of these systems is a public agency. That single fact changes the legal landscape for your injury claim in ways that matter enormously.
Common Causes of Platform, Boarding, and Onboard Injuries
Train and light rail accidents injure passengers in a predictable set of ways:
- Doors closing on passengers during boarding or exiting
- Sudden stops or acceleration that throws standing passengers
- Platform falls caused by gaps between the train and platform edge, wet surfaces, or inadequate lighting
- Slip-and-fall injuries on wet floors inside cars
- Collisions between trains, or between a train and a vehicle at a grade crossing
- Escalator and elevator failures at stations
- Assaults in stations or on trains when the agency failed to provide adequate security
- Defective seats, handrails, or grab bars
The injuries that result can be severe: fractures, traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord damage, crush injuries, and soft-tissue trauma that never fully resolves.
Why Claims Against Public Transit Agencies Work Differently
Common carriers in California, including light rail and commuter trains, owe passengers the highest duty of care under Cal. Civ. Code §2100, a stricter standard than ordinary negligence applies to most other defendants.
That elevated duty is real and it matters at trial. But before you ever get to trial, you have to clear a procedural hurdle that does not exist in ordinary personal injury cases: the California Government Claims Act (formerly called the Tort Claims Act).
Under Gov. Code §900 and the sections that follow, you cannot file a lawsuit directly against a California government entity. You must first present a formal written claim to the agency and give it a chance to respond. Only after the agency rejects your claim, or fails to respond in the statutory window, can you take the dispute to court.
This is not a minor technicality. Courts have dismissed otherwise valid injury cases solely because the plaintiff skipped or mistimed the government claim step.
Government Immunity Is Not Total
Transit agencies frequently argue immunity from liability. California Government Code does provide broad protections to public entities. But immunity is not absolute. Two key exceptions apply to transit accident cases:
Dangerous condition of public property. Under Gov. Code §835, a public entity is liable for injury caused by a dangerous condition of its property if:
- The condition created a reasonably foreseeable risk of the kind of injury that occurred, AND
- The entity had actual or constructive notice of the condition in time to have taken protective action before the injury.
A slick platform, a poorly lit stairwell, or a gap between train and platform edge can each qualify as a dangerous condition, provided the evidence shows the agency knew or should have known about it.
Failure of a common carrier duty. The heightened duty under Cal. Civ. Code §2100 runs alongside, not beneath, the Government Claims Act framework. When the agency's negligence in operating the transit system itself (not just a property condition) causes injury, the immunity analysis is different and the claim is stronger.
Government Claim Requirements and Shortened Deadlines
California law requires you to file a government tort claim against BART, Metro, or any other public transit agency within six months of the date of injury before you can sue.
That six-month deadline is set by Gov. Code §911.2. It is not the same as the statute of limitations for a standard personal injury case, which is two years under Cal. Code Civ. Proc. §335.1. Six months passes quickly when you are focused on medical treatment and recovery.
What Your Government Claim Must Include
Under Gov. Code §910, a valid government claim must state:
- Your name and mailing address
- The address where you want notices to be sent
- The date, place, and circumstances of the incident
- A description of the injury or loss
- The name or names of the employees or agents who caused the injury, if known
- The dollar amount of the claim if it totals less than $10,000; if the claim is $10,000 or more, you indicate whether it is a limited or unlimited civil case rather than stating a specific figure
File directly with the transit agency's claims office. Each agency has its own form and filing address. BART, LA Metro, Metrolink, MTS, VTA, and Sacramento RT all maintain their own government claims processes.
What Happens After You File
The agency has 45 days to respond to a government claim under Gov. Code §912.4. It may:
- Accept the claim and offer a settlement, OR
- Reject the claim in writing, OR
- Take no action, which triggers its own timeline
If the transit agency rejects your government claim in writing, you have six months from the date of that rejection notice to file a lawsuit in court under Gov. Code §945.6(a)(1).
If the agency takes no action and never sends a written rejection notice, Gov. Code §945.6(a)(2) gives you two years from the accrual of the cause of action to file suit. Because the timeline that applies to your case depends entirely on whether and when the agency responded, an attorney should review the specific facts before you rely on any deadline.
What If You Missed the Six-Month Deadline?
Missing the government claim deadline is serious, but it is not automatically fatal. You may file a late claim application under Gov. Code §911.4 if you present the late claim within one year of the date of the incident and show a valid excuse, such as mental incapacity or mistake based on excusable neglect. The agency can deny the late claim application, and you may then petition the court. Courts grant late-claim relief selectively, do not assume it will be available in your case. The safest path is filing on time.
Third-Party Liability: Contractors, Maintenance Companies, and Manufacturers
Not every responsible party in a transit accident is a government entity. Private companies are often involved, and claims against them work very differently.
A separate claim against a train manufacturer or maintenance contractor follows the standard two-year personal injury statute of limitations under Cal. Code Civ. Proc. §335.1, not the government claim deadline.
Examples of private third-party liability in transit accident cases:
- Train car manufacturers whose defective doors, seats, or grab bars caused the injury. A products liability claim can be brought directly against the manufacturer under the doctrine established in Greenman v. Yuba Power Products (1963) 59 Cal.2d 57.
- Private maintenance contractors hired by the agency to maintain tracks, escalators, elevators, or station facilities. If that contractor's negligence caused your fall or your injury, they are a private defendant.
- Property owners adjacent to rail corridors in cases involving grade-crossing collisions or premises hazards at privately owned station structures.
- Rideshare or bus companies if your injury involved a transfer or connecting service operated by a private carrier.
When both a public entity and a private party share responsibility, you can pursue both claims in parallel, each on its own timeline and procedural track. Identifying every potentially liable party early is critical, because missing one defendant at the outset may not be recoverable later.
Evidence Specific to Transit Accident Claims
Transit accident cases are won and lost on evidence. The good news is that rail systems generate a lot of it. The bad news is that much of it disappears quickly.
Surveillance footage on light rail platforms and inside train cars is typically overwritten within 30 to 72 hours, so preserving evidence immediately after a transit accident is critical.
Evidence you or your attorney should move to preserve immediately:
- Station and in-car surveillance footage. Send a written preservation demand to the agency's legal or risk-management office as fast as possible. Once footage is overwritten, it is gone.
- Incident reports. Transit operators are required to document accidents. Request the agency's incident report as part of your government claim or follow-up process.
- Witness information. Fellow passengers, station staff, and platform bystanders often do not stay. Get names and phone numbers at the scene if you are physically able.
- Medical records. Document every treatment from the first emergency room visit forward. Gaps in medical care are used by defense attorneys to argue the injury was not serious.
- Photographs. Take photos of the exact location of the fall, the boarding area, the platform gap, the door mechanism, or whatever condition caused your injury. Do this before you leave the station if possible.
- Your clothing and footwear. In slip-and-fall cases, the condition of your shoes on the day of the accident can be relevant evidence.
- Operator logs and maintenance records. These must typically be obtained through formal discovery after a lawsuit is filed, but your attorney can request them early through the government claims process or through preservation letters.
Under the DWC context, if you were injured on a train while performing your job duties, a separate workers' compensation claim may also apply, with its own reporting requirements and deadlines. Those two tracks can run at the same time.
What To Do Immediately After a Train or Light Rail Injury
The steps you take in the first hours and days after a transit injury directly affect the strength of your claim.
1. Get medical attention right away. Your health is the priority. An emergency room or urgent care visit also creates a medical record that documents the injury close in time to the incident.
2. Report the incident to transit staff before you leave the station. Ask that an incident report be created. Get the name of the employee who takes your report.
3. Photograph everything you can. The platform, the train door, the gap between train and platform, any wet floor, any visible injury, and the surveillance camera locations you can see.
4. Collect witness contact information. Fellow passengers, especially those who saw the incident, are valuable and hard to find later.
5. Do not give a recorded statement to the transit agency's insurance or claims representatives without speaking to an attorney first. Anything you say can be used to minimize or deny your claim.
6. Contact a personal injury attorney who handles government claims as quickly as possible. The six-month government claim deadline starts running on the date of injury, not the date you hire a lawyer. An attorney can send evidence preservation demands immediately and make sure your claim is filed correctly and on time.
Call (818) 794-9947 for a free consultation. No fee unless we win. We handle government claim filings and can advise you on every step from the date of injury through the final resolution of your case.
FAQ
Can you sue BART or Metro after a train accident in California?
Yes, but not directly. Before you can file a lawsuit against BART, LA Metro, or any California public transit agency, you must first file a formal government tort claim with the agency under Gov. Code §911.2. That claim must be filed within six months of the date of injury. If the agency rejects your claim or fails to act, you can then file a lawsuit in court within the applicable window under Gov. Code §945.6.
What is the deadline to file a claim against a public transit agency in California?
The government tort claim must be filed with the transit agency within six months of the date of injury under Gov. Code §911.2. This is separate from and shorter than the standard two-year personal injury statute of limitations that applies to private defendants. Miss the six-month deadline and you generally lose the right to sue, unless a court grants a late-claim application under Gov. Code §911.4.
Who is liable if a train door closes on a passenger in California?
Potentially the transit agency, a private door-mechanism manufacturer, or both. The agency has the highest duty of care as a common carrier under Cal. Civ. Code §2100. If the door malfunctioned due to a design or manufacturing defect, the manufacturer may also be liable under California products liability law. An investigation into maintenance records, operator logs, and the specific door system will determine which parties bear responsibility.
Are transit agencies immune from lawsuits in California?
No, not completely. California law gives public entities broad protections, but immunity is not absolute. Under Gov. Code §835, a public agency is liable for injuries caused by a dangerous condition of its property when the agency had actual or constructive notice of the condition and failed to fix it. The higher duty owed to passengers as a common carrier also limits immunity in cases of operational negligence.
What if I was injured on a train while on the job?
If you were traveling for work purposes when the injury occurred, you may have both a workers' compensation claim and a third-party personal injury claim against the transit agency. These two claims run on separate tracks. Workers' comp must be reported to your employer promptly. The government tort claim against the transit agency must still be filed within six months. An attorney can help you coordinate both claims to maximize your recovery without one claim canceling out the other.
How long does a transit injury claim take to resolve?
It depends on the severity of the injury, the strength of the evidence, whether the agency contests liability, and how quickly litigation proceeds. Government claims have a built-in waiting period because the agency gets 45 days to respond under Gov. Code §912.4. If the case moves to litigation, resolution can take one to several years. Cases with strong evidence, clear liability, and documented serious injuries often resolve through settlement before trial.
What damages can I recover in a California transit accident case?
Recoverable damages can include medical expenses (past and future), lost wages and reduced earning capacity, pain and suffering, and costs of ongoing rehabilitation or home care. In cases involving a third-party private defendant, punitive damages may also be available in egregious circumstances. Government entities in California are not subject to punitive damages under Gov. Code §818, but compensatory damages are available when liability is established.
Do I need a lawyer to file a government claim?
You are not legally required to hire a lawyer to file a government tort claim. However, errors in the claim form, missed deadlines, or incomplete descriptions of the incident can result in the claim being rejected or delayed. Given that the six-month deadline is absolute in most situations, and given that transit agencies have experienced claims staff working in their interest from day one, having an attorney handle the process significantly reduces the risk of a procedural mistake that ends your case before it starts.
If you were hurt on a California light rail, BART, Metro Rail, Metrolink, or any other commuter train system, the clock on your government claim started running on the day of the accident. Do not wait.
Call (818) 794-9947 for a free consultation with a California personal injury attorney. No fee unless we win. Available in English and Spanish.
Reviewed by Minas Nordanyan, CA Bar No. 296806. Last updated September 2026.