|
Is U.S.
Rail Security Possible Against Terrorism?
by
Sharon Richardson
Since the 11 March
commuter train bombing in Madrid, Spain, many in Congress have
stepped up the call for more funding for rail security. Sen.
Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) has been pushing bill S.1608, which would
make lethal attacks on rail and mass transit systems federal
crimes punishable by death. The day after the Madrid attacks,
Sen. Ernest Hollings (D-S.C.), introduced bill S.2216, which
would authorize $515 million to shore up rail security. And in
the past year, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has
given out $115 million in grants for rail and mass transit
security.
Although we have
approximately 140,000 miles of track in the United States and
thousands of passengers travel by rail each day
—
65,000 passengers a day on Amtrak alone
—
little is currently in place to prevent a terrorist attack. Is
it possible to secure the U.S. rail system from terrorism?
Airport Security
Measures Won’t Transfer to Rail Systems
Unlike the uniformity the
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has brought to
airline security, no systematic answer to rail security is
apparent. An airport hub in New York City, for instance, has
significantly different security needs than a rail depot in
Orlando, Florida. Some transit systems are testing sensors that
can pick up biological or chemical hazards, as well as
surveillance cameras and bomb-sniffing dogs, but
across-the-board security and screening measures are unlikely.
According to Asa Hutchinson, undersecretary for border and
transportation security at DHS, “deploying at rail stations
the type of 100 percent screening found at airports would slow
an already troubled system, and would be functionally impractical
because there are so many points of entry on trains and mass
transit.”
Pilot Program Shows
Promise
A 30-day pilot program
aimed at making railways safer was tested in May at
the New Carrollton Metro Station in New Carrollton, Maryland,
which serves MARC and Amtrak trains as well as the Washington,
D.C., Metro system. Passengers using this station must now pass
explosive detection machines hidden behind a wall.
Officials checking bags say these detection machines are not
like airport metal detectors, so passengers don’t have to empty
their pockets. A TSA spokesperson said that the station is ideal
for the pilot program because its escalators and indoor/outdoor
areas are typical of most train stations. However, even with
this pilot program in place, more than 500 of Amtrak’s stations
are currently unstaffed, and screening all passengers is nearly
impossible.
Capitol Hill Hearing
Focuses on Funding
On 5 May, the House
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure’s Subcommittee on
Railroads hosted a hearing on freight, intercity passenger and
commuter rail transportation security issues. Testifying were
representatives from the Long Island Railroad;
Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO; Federal Railroad Administration; Association of
American Railroads; Amtrak Police and Security Department; TSA
Office of Maritime and Land Security; American Public
Transportation Association; and the Northeast Illinois Regional
Commuter Railroad Corporation. All of these organizations called for adequate
funding for additional salaries and overtime funding for transit agency and local law enforcement
personnel; costs associated with using
extra security personnel during heightened alert levels;
training for security, joint transit/law enforcement and transit
personnel; security planning activities; radio communications
systems; security cameras on transit vehicles and in transit
stations; systems to control access to and secure transit
facilities; automated vehicle locator systems; and intrusion
detection devices.
House Homeland Security
Committee ranking member Jim Turner (D-Texas) and Del. Eleanor
Holmes-Norton (D-D.C.) unveiled legislation on 14 May that would
authorize $2.8 billion over three years to improve security on
Amtrak, subways, buses, commuter ferries, and other modes of
public transportation. “Funding for improving mass transit
security has lagged far behind air travel security
and has left the nation vulnerable to an attack similar to the
deadly commuter rail bombing in Madrid in March,” Holmes-Norton
said.
Is There a Solution?
Securing our nation’s
rail system from terrorist attacks will be like tackling a
giant. Can we succeed? It will take an enormous amount of money,
a strong transportation information sharing system, executive
and legislative bodies in agreement, and the public keeping a
vigilant lookout for anything out of the ordinary. IEEE-USA
supports enhancing homeland security and protecting critical
infrastructures, and has made this a public policy priority
issue for 2004. To learn more about what IEEE-USA is doing on
homeland security, go to
http://www.ieeeusa.org/forum.
Sharon
Richardson is staff assistant for communications and government
relations at IEEE-USA in Washington, D.C. She is also an editorial
assistant for IEEE-USA's quarterly newsletter, IEEE-USA News &
Views.
|
