Train chartered by Republican lawmakers collides with dump truck on way to retreat; 1 dead

[Geee]

Fox News

A train carrying members of Congress to a Republican retreat in West Virginia slammed into a dump truck on Wednesday, throwing lawmakers from their seats and leaving at least one person dead, officials said. 

The truck may have been stuck on the tracks. There are mixed reports over whether the train actually derailed. 
Lawmakers on the train flooded social media with images of the wrecked truck, as well as damage to the crumpled front of the train. 

The nature or extent of injuries was also unclear. Amtrak said there were no reported injuries to passengers or crew members, though lawmakers reported minor injuries on board.

[Draggingtree]

Chuck Schumer Holds Up Trump’s Rail Safety Nominee After Second Train Crash In Two Months

Trump has a perfect nominee for the Federal Railroad Administration but Chuck Schumer is holding up the appointment.

There was an awful train accident in the northwest just before the New Year and now there has been another one in Virginia, but Schumer keeps standing in the way.

The Washington Free Beacon reports:

Congressional Train Crash Brings Latest Barb in Fight Over Rail Safety Nomination

The fatal incident of an Amtrak train carrying Republican congressmen crashing into a truck in rural Virginia prompted a senior administration official to again urge Sen. Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) to stop blocking the nomination of a top railroad safety official.

The nominee in question is Ronald Batory, who the Senate Commerce Committee unanimously approved to head the Federal Railroad Agency last August. Schumer and a small group of Democrats have used Senate procedure to block the nomination, leaving the agency—tasked with investigating incidents such as the one this week—without its top official.

Jeffrey Rosen, Department of Transportation’s deputy secretary, told Schumer in a letter sent shortly after the Wednesday accident that the “agency needs to have its chief rail safety official in place.”     http://americanlookout.com/chuck-schumer-holds-up-trumps-rail-safety-nominee-after-second-train-crash-in-two-months/