TULLAHOMA, Tenn. — The nation’s rail travelers received a warning recently from the FBI — al-Qaeda may be planning a terror attack on passenger trains, using operatives who are Western in appearance, according to an editorial in the Tullahoma News.
The FBI added that terrorists “may try a variety of other attack strategies, such as destroying key rail bridges and sections of track to cause derailments, or targeting hazardous material containers.”
The investigative agency disclosed that recently obtained “al-Qaeda photographs of U.S. railroad engines, cars and crossings heightens the intelligence community’s concern of this threat.”
The FBI’s warning, only the seventh the government has publicly issued since Sept. 11 of last year, brings to the fore the issue of railway security. For while considerable time and resources have been devoted to improving the security of air travel, the rail system – passenger and freight – remains vulnerable to terror attack.
While Amtrak passengers have been required to show photo identification when purchasing tickets, and while the rail carrier conducts spot baggage checks, it would not be too difficult for terrorists to smuggle weapons or explosives aboard a passenger train. And while the freight industry is locking down terminals and yards, increasing surveillance and deploying more police officers, according to the American Association of Railroads, only a small fraction of rail freight currently is inspected.
The FBI warning should raise the priority of railway security in the minds of lawmakers on Capitol Hill, as well Bush administration officials. They should put together a plan to deter terror attacks.
Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., has some pretty good ideas for protecting Amtrak’s 1 million annual passengers. He proposed an amendment to the Senate’s homeland security bill that, among other things, would have provided the carrier funds that could be used for explosives-detection equipment, surveillance cameras and remote monitoring of Amtrak’s critical infrastructure components, including bridges and tunnels, track junctions and stations.
Freight railroads do not receive the kind of taxpayer largesse that Amtrak enjoys, but they, too, need to deploy the latest high-tech security equipment. That includes high-tech scanners capable of inspecting entire rail containers, detecting explosives, drugs, chemical agents or nuclear materials.
America’s rail system is as vital to the economy as the air transport system. Steps should be taken, sooner rather than later, to protect both Amtrak and freight railroads from terror attacks.