Better watch your speed, watchdog and others tell a flush Amtrak
WASHINGTON — America’s long-beleaguered and only interstate passenger rail service appears to have the wind at its back.
Congress allocated $66 billion to rail — much of it to Amtrak — in last year’s five-year bipartisan infrastructure law. The leader of the free world is nicknamed “Amtrak Joe.” And the 50-year-old railroad has big plans to add dozens of new routes to its existing system by 2035.
But that wind comes with some turbulence.
A recent report by its internal watchdog raised questions about Amtrak’s ability to manage all that money and keep its partners — freight railroads and regional commuter rail systems — in its planning loop and happy. A fight with two freight railroads over access to tracks along the Gulf Coast in particular portends some of the dangers the government-owned and taxpayer-subsidized railroad faces as it attempts its largest expansion in a generation.
When freight railroads CSX and Norfolk Southern complained that sharing their tracks connecting Mobile, Ala., and New Orleans with the passenger railroad would exacerbate the supply chain crisis, Amtrak responded on Twitter. It livestreamed a portion of the route to demonstrate that, in fact, the tracks weren’t so in demand after all.
—CQ-Roll Call
Orlando Free Fall operators altered safety features before teen’s death, report says
ORLANDO, Fla. — An engineering firm hired by the state found that the operator of the Orlando Free Fall drop tower manually changed sensors on specific seats on the ride, “resulting in it being unsafe,” Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried said Monday in Orlando.
The report, written by Quest Engineering & Failure Analysis, determined that the changes allowed harnesses on certain seats to open to “almost double” the normal range, Fried said. Tyre Sampson, a 14-year-old who died on the attraction at ICON Park last month, reportedly weighed around 340 pounds.
“These misadjustments allowed the safety lights to illuminate and properly satisfy the ride’s electronic safety mechanisms that allowed the ride to operate, even though Mr. Sampson was not properly secured in the seat,” Fried said.
The state released the report into the accident Monday afternoon, shortly before Fried held a brief news conference. Fried did not take questions from reporters.
She did not mention whether the ride operator could potentially face criminal charges in the case but said the agency was looking at “potential penalties.”
—Orlando Sentinel
Pudgy Texas state troopers who don’t shrink their waists could be pulled off enforcement duties
AUSTIN, Texas — More than 200 state troopers will need to slim down by year’s end or face discipline under a controversial policy the Texas Department of Public Safety is enforcing to limit the size of officers’ waistlines.
Men with waists over 40 inches and women over 35 inches now have to track and share their weight-loss efforts with DPS, according to documents obtained by The Dallas Morning News.
“I will drink no more than one diet soda each day,” one officer pledged in a fitness improvement plan obtained by The News. Another set out to “drastically cut sugar intake in all its forms” and avoid fast food.
Officers who don’t trim down by December — even if they pass all other required physical fitness tests — can be denied promotions and overtime, or removed from enforcement duties.
In the latest round of testing, most officers who failed the waist measurement passed the department’s running, rowing and weight-lifting tests — suggesting that state troopers with proven strength and stamina may be discounted simply for their size.
—The Dallas Morning News
Macron’s lead over Le Pen widens slightly ahead of France's election
Emmanuel Macron regained some momentum over far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, as France enters the final week of a closely watched election.
Two polls released Monday showed Macron’s lead over Le Pen growing slightly. He would beat the nationalist leader 56%-44% in Sunday’s runoff, according to a poll conducted by Ipsos-Sopra Steria for France Info and Le Parisien, compared with 55.5%-44.5% two days earlier.
A separate survey by Ifop-Fiducial for LCI, Paris Match and Sud Radio placed Macron ahead in the runoff, with 54.5% to 45.5% of voting intentions, up from 53.5%-46.5% three days earlier.
Macron faces a tight race against Le Pen, with both candidates rushing to woo voters who backed far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon in the first round. Macron vowed to end the use of fossil fuels during a campaign rally in Marseille on Saturday, in an effort to win over left-wing voters.
—Bloomberg News
