POINT OF ROCKS, Md. — The Maryland Transit Administration is offering free passes to plainclothes officers who agree to watch for terrorists and other troublemakers during their commute, the Associated Press reports.
“Our goal is, with heightened concerns about potential threats from the al-Qaida, or vis-a-vis the sniper, to try and have some added eyes and ears out there,” Simon Taylor, manager and chief operating officer of the Maryland Rail Commuter system, said Monday.
The FBI warned in October that terrorists have considered targeting U.S. passenger trains.
Taylor said MARC has just one paid security officer covering its 200-mile system and is hoping enough people sign up to provide at least one undercover officer on each of its 86 trains.
The plan is based on a program the neighboring Virginia Railway Express commuter service implemented after the Sept. 11 attacks.
A Virginia service spokesman, Mark Roeber, said the program has 68 plainclothes officers, including federal marshals and National Park Service employees, and 10 to 20 uniformed police officers.
The program costs VRE $40,000 to $45,000 a year, substantially less than the $65,000 to $70,000 in wages and benefits for a single security officer, Roeber said.
There have been no incidents requiring the undercover commuters to act, Roeber said.
Their obligation “is simply to be our eyes and ears on the train. If something were to happen, we hope they will be able to rise to the occasion and deal with the issue,” Roeber said.