The Toll
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| Google books | books.google.com |
|---|---|
| Originally published | November 5, 2019 |
| Authors | Neal Shusterman |
| Genres | Science Fiction |
| Preceded by | Thunderhead |
| Date of Reg. | |
| Date of Upd. | |
| ID | 2175313 |
About The Toll
From New York Times bestselling author Neal Shusterman comes the thrilling conclusion to the Printz Honor-winning series Arc of a Scythe. It's been three years since Rowan and Citra disappeared; since Scythe Goddard came into power; since the Thunderhead closed itself off to everyone but Grayson Tolliver. . . .
Israel says Hamas killed hostage at Gaza's al-Shifa hospital
... But they have expressed a lot of unease at The Toll that the offensive - involving air and artillery strikes as well as ground troops - is having on civilians...
Rashida Tlaib's claims of genocide in Gaza draw bipartisan ire
... " We do not accept their application to this particular war even as we continue to raise our serious concerns about The Toll that this is taking on civilian life, " he said...
The Halloween peppermints that poisoned Bradford
... A list of those that were dead or dangerously ill was published in the Bradford Observer and by 4 November, The Toll had reached 18, with the youngest aged just 17 months...
I was innocent - but it cost me £500,000 to prove it
... Although he can now look to the future, he knows The Toll his ordeal has taken...
Over 340 first responders have died from 9/11 illnesses
... Two recent deaths added to The Toll...
Has Network Rail got off lightly over train crash?
... The Toll could have been much higher, if the train had not been almost empty that day...
Family courts: 'We kidnapped our kids from abusive dads and fled the UK'
... She says during 120 court appearances she and her child were not listened to, and The Toll of the hearings led to serious problems at her place of work...
Lucy Letby: What happens next with inquiry, prison and police review
... A recurring theme from the victim statements was The Toll Letby s attacks have taken on parents...
Has Network Rail got off lightly over train crash?
By David HendersonBBC Scotland business correspondent
It's three years since The Aberdeen to Glasgow train ploughed off The Line near Stonehaven.
Three people died after The Train hit a landslide at Carmont and derailed.
The Toll could have been much higher, if The Train had not been almost empty That Day .
Since then, a long investigation has tried to answer three key questions: what went wrong, who's to blame, and what can be done to prevent a similar tragedy in future?
Among The specific findings, highlighted In Court was The fact that a Drainage System in The area was incorrectly installed by The Giant construction firm Carillion, which has since gone into liquidation.
Network Rail engineers had not fully inspected this Drainage System . So problems were spotted Too Late .
Driver Brett McCullough, 45, conductor Donald Dinnie , 58, and passenger Christopher Stuchbury, 62, died in The Crash .
The Judge , Lord Matthews, said no penalty he could impose could compensate for The Loss suffered by The families of those who died and of The six people on board The Train who were injured.
Network Rail has now been fined £6. 7m after Pleading Guilty to A Number of maintenance and inspection failures before The Crash in August 2020 and failing to warn The Driver that part of The Track was unsafe or tell him to reduce his speed.
But officials at The RMT rail union are angry.
They say Network Rail has got off lightly - and that corporate manslaughter charges must be made an option in similar cases in future.
Network Rail is in charge of rail infrastructure across The UK, so it's having to make sweeping changes in response to this crash.
Twenty key changes are recommended. So Far , just two have been completed by Network Rail .
Several more, they say, await approval by rail regulators. The rest, they claim will be in place in The Next two years, or will fall to rail operators to implement.
Rail unions are frustrated at this pace of change. Without rapid progress, they warn, The lives of passengers and rail workers remain At Risk .
Officials at Network Rail say they're working fast to introduce complex changes, many of them UK-wide.
Climate ChangeThis crash shows how Extreme Weather can wreak havoc with The rail network.
Torrential rain and flooding damaged The rail line at Stonehaven in The Hours before The derailment.
Network Rail point to lessons learned: more investment in front-line inspection teams, and remote monitoring systems to bring early alerts from Danger areas.
More helicopter inspections, they say, are planned in remote areas, with river levels monitored better to highlight potential flooding.
All this costs a fortune.
Network Rail say that in 2014-2024, they've committed around £200m on drainage systems, earthworks and bridge protection in Scotland alone.
More severe storms mean falling trees cause more regular damage to overhead electric rail lines. This, in turn, brings services to a halt. So a ramped-up programme of tree-felling is in place around The Network .
And Extreme Weather demands better planning. In The Network Rail control centre in Glasgow, a specialist weather team is now in place - The First of its kind in The UK.
These meteorologists are tasked with providing 24 hours A Day over-watch, so route control managers can respond better to extreme local conditions.
This aims to help them decide when to slow trains down or close lines altogether, when The Weather 's particularly bad.
Will this be enough to avert a similar tragedy in future?
With so much of Scotland's rail network running through remote and mountainous Highland terrain, it's clear that Climate Change and Extreme Weather present real Danger - Whatever 's done to blunt its impact.
Related TopicsSource of news: bbc.com
