VICTORVILLE, Calif. — Railroad crews will begin reporting anyone spotted on or near tracks because of an FBI warning issued Thursday about possible terrorist attacks on the nation’s transportation systems, particularly railroads, the Victorville Daily Press reported.
“This way nothing will slip past us that anybody sees,” Union Pacific Railroad spokesman Mike Furtney said. “There won’t be any guessing done during this exercise.”
While tracks run through remote Mojave Desert locations in San Bernardino County, Furtney said there is still a lot of activity on the tracks throughout the day and night.
“It’s frequent enough that anything out of the ordinary would be spotted by a train crew,” he said.
Furtney declined to comment on the vulnerability of the Cajon Pass, a major railroad thoroughfare that has an average of 80 trains passing through it daily and tracks on one of the steepest grades in the nation.
However, a Union Pacific employee familiar with local railway operations said the Cajon Pass would be particularly susceptible to an attack.
“You’ve got a lot of desolate area back there,” said the employee, who asked not to be named.
The source said a saboteur would have easy access to the tracks on dirt roads that run through the area and would also be able to escape quickly via Interstate 15.
“It wouldn’t take much to derail a train,” he said.
Furtney said railroad crews and police will be on heightened alert until at least Monday, when officials will regroup to decide if the security measures are still necessary.
Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway spokeswoman Lena Kent referred calls for comment to the American Association of Railroads in Washington, D.C.
No one at the organization’s East Coast office could be reached Thursday afternoon.
Officials said the warning, based on information obtained from al-Qaida prisoners, suggested that terrorists may try to take out bridges, key sections of tracks or train engines in an effort to cause derailments and widespread damage.
“Information from debriefings of al-Qaida detainees as of mid-October indicates that the group has considered directly targeting U.S. passenger trains, possibly using operatives who have a Western appearance,” the FBI said in a statement Thursday.
Intelligence officials continue to believe that al-Qaida plans to attack targets that would be readily recognized as representing U.S. economic interests, the FBI said.
Captured al-Qaida photographs of U.S. railroad engines, cars and crossings have increased concern about the threat, the FBI said.
Amtrak President David Gunn said federal transportation officials notified him about the warning. “The threat, like a lot of others, is not specific,” Gunn said. “It’s not targeted at anything per se.”
Gunn said the passenger railroad is taking steps to enhance security and passenger safety, but declined to describe them except to say they will not be evident to riders.
Amtrak has increased patrols, and freight railroads have tightened security, the FBI said.
Around the Sept. 11 anniversary, Amtrak announced it intended to enforce tighter identification requirements, including random ID checks of passengers on trains. But Amtrak decided to reconsider that plan and has never implemented it.
The Office of Homeland Security was contacting key state and local officials to urge their help and vigilance in warding off any such attack, spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.
“The American people should still ride our nation’s rails and know that this warning has been provided to state and local law enforcement, and the appropriate security officials, so they can take the appropriate steps to increase protective measures,” Johndroe said.