WASHINGTON - The transit agency responsible for the Washington-area Metro train system has settled seven of nine lawsuits by families of people killed in a 2009 train crash that was the deadliest in the network's history.

Nine people died and dozens were injured when one train slammed into a stopped one. Metro and three other companies - including one Italian and one French - that provided equipment involved in the crash have told a judge they are admitting legal responsibility for the accident.

Terms of the settlements have not been disclosed, though settlements in similar cases have been in the millions of dollars.

Patrick Regan, a lead attorney for the families, says the remaining two wrongful death cases are set to go to trial in March, nearly three years after the June 22, 2009, crash that was blamed on a faulty circuit.

In addition to Metro, the settlements involved Italian-owned Ansaldo, which provided software and equipment used by the system; Maryland-based ARINC, which provided a warning system designed to detect and track trains, and Alstom, a French company that provided the circuit that ultimately failed. The companies acknowledged legal responsibility for the crash along with Metro.

A spokesman for Alstom declined to comment, as did a spokesman for Metro, Dan Stessel. Messages left for the two other companies were not immediately returned Wednesday.

Washington's Metro train system is the second busiest in the U.S. after New York City's subway system. Average weekday ridership is 675,000.