Letters to the Editor | June 4, 2023

I had to chuckle, once again, at the report of delays and more delays in getting Amtrak’s new, $2 billion high-speed Acela fleet up and running. This bit of “news” is déjà vu all over again. Seems these faster, more sophisticated trains — to be sidelined three years later than planned until at least 2024 — aren’t yet ready for the busy, century-old Washington to Boston corridor infrastructure. Or is it the other way around? Either way, it’s a helluva way to run a railroad.

We commuters have been through this for decades, whether it’s the Northeast Corridor Amtrak line or regional rail in cities like Philadelphia, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Order them now, hope to get them in four or five years (overdue and over budget), and ride the old ones while testing and more testing go on.

Even more frustrating is the comment from an official of France-based Alstrom, which is building and tinkering with them in upstate New York, that “It’s taking a bit longer than we thought in the beginning.” Hello? Worse, trains that finally do get on the track often get pulled offline because of structural defects. Let’s hope next trip around, the railroads conduct themselves as though they live in the same real world as their riders.

Lou Scheinfeld, Villanova, exec10000@gmail.com

In April, in the midst of the mayoral primary election, the Philadelphia Board of Ethics sued candidate Jeff Brown for alleged campaign finance rules violations. According to the board’s executive director, Shane Creamer, if the suit had been delayed until after the May 16 primary, “we’re influencing the election.” The stated rationale for the timing of the suit is curious, considering how the proceedings actually played out.

Although filed as an emergency petition, the lawsuit remains pending, with no indication of a final resolution anytime soon (some emergency). Clearly, the post-filing delay negatively influenced the election, arguably much more so than if the board opted to postpone the suit until after the primary. Indeed, Brown wrapped up his campaign with the lawsuit hanging over his head like the legendary sword of Damocles, and voters were left in the dark as to its merits. It’s hardly surprising he finished a distant fifth in the vote tally.

Patrick J. Hagan, Ardmore

Perhaps the same members of the House of Representatives who used the threat of the debt ceiling to pass a sensible bill to rein in our federal government’s spending spree can get together and form a centrist political party. Such a party is our best hope to return our government to the business of attacking our country’s problems rather than pursuing the extreme ideologies that are polarizing our political life. Maybe they could even identify a leader who could save us from the prospect of a Donald Trump and Joe Biden rematch.

Bernard D. Shapiro, Voorhees

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