OMAHA — The FBI warned last week that freight and passenger trains should be on heightened alert against terrorism. The railroads’ response has been to not talk publicly about security measures, the Omaha World-Herald reported.
In fact, some railroad unions say they aren’t even talking to their workers. The union leaders say workers don’t know what to look for and lack detailed instructions on how to do their jobs safely.
Union Pacific spokesman John Bromley said the company heightened security more than a year ago, after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. After the latest alert, Union Pacific and other major railroads held a conference call to discuss possible threats.
“Each railroad issued instructions to employees about it and what they should do in response,” Bromley said. “Our employees are reminded to be alert and to report suspicious activity when they see it out along the railroad.”
He said U.P. workers have not found evidence of any terrorist activity.
On Oct. 23, the FBI warned state and local authorities that the terrorist group al-Qaida was again targeting the United States, possibly focusing on the railroads. The warning said terrorists with a “Western appearance” may employ various attack strategies, including destroying key rail bridges and sections of track to cause derailments or targeting rail cars carrying hazardous chemicals.
In Nebraska, Burlington Northern Santa Fe and Omaha-based Union Pacific have track and major rail facilities across the state.
Don Hahs, international president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers in Cleveland, on Oct. 25 wrote an open letter on the union Web site seeking a meeting with other labor unions, rail carriers and government agencies to talk about the FBI’s report.
In the letter, Hahs said union officials were upset about not being informed of the latest al-Qaida threat when the railroads first learned of it. U.P.’s Bromley said the company has not been contacted by the engineers’ union, but is aware of Hahs’ concerns.
Bromley said the company communicates with train and engine crews through daily paperwork that workers get before starting a run. U.P.’s office employees are told of warnings either through an electronic newsletter or the company’s business television station, he said.
John Gallagher, an associate editor for a transportation trade publication, “Traffic World,” said that given government warnings of terrorists possibly targeting airlines, ports and pipelines, the alert about railroads was inevitable. But he doubts that rail cars or track would be an attractive target.
“Terrorists are looking for symbols and people (to target), not so much infrastructure to tamper with,” he said.
Still, railroads do have vulnerabilities compared to other forms of transportation, he said, because tracks cross open stretches of land in some parts of the country. Terrorists could sabotage track and cause a chemical or hazardous material spill, he said.
In addition, very few containers that are to be moved by the railroads after arriving on ships are checked, Gallagher said.
John Hasenauer, a U.P. conductor from North Platte, Neb., said he’s all right with the information given by the company. He said most workers have years of experience and “if something doesn’t look right, we’re pretty much aware of it anyway.”
Hasenauer is a member of the United Transportation Union, which represents conductors, brakemen, switchmen and ground service personnel.
“The railroad has stepped up surveillance by asking the railroad police to watch for problems,” he said.
But another union, the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees, is seeking more information from Union Pacific.
Dave Tanner, a Lyman, Wyo.-based general chairman, said he recently spoke with a track inspector who hadn’t been given instructions about the kinds of suspicious objects to look for near the tracks.
“These (track inspectors) are the people responsible to make sure the track is safe for the passage of trains,” he said.
At the same time the railroad is asking the workers to watch the trains and tracks, Tanner said, the company is eliminating some year-round track maintenance workers.
“They’re cutting off established (rail) sections that usually have four men down to two men,” he said.
Tanner said he does not know the number of affected workers, but he said the reductions have taken place along the U.P. route between Omaha and North Platte, as well as in the Denver and Lawrence, Kan., areas.
U.P.’s Bromley said he was not aware of the job reductions. He said track workers are given similar safety instructions as other workers at daily briefings. A spokesman for Burlington Northern Santa Fe referred questions to the Association of American Railroads, the Washington-based trade organization representing railroads.
The association’s president and chief executive, Edward Hamberger, said in a statement: “The nation’s railroads will not be a soft target for terrorists.”
The association put together a security plan last year to work with the U.S. Department of Transportation and federal intelligence agencies to protect the railroads.
The association also created a 24-hour operations center in Washington to communicate with railroads and transportation and law enforcement agencies. The association also asked railroads to restrict access to facilities and equipment, heighten employee awareness and increase surveillance of critical infrastructure.
Railroads operate more than 125,000 miles of track and carry more than 25 million cargo shipments a year. Amtrak, the national passenger railroad, carries 22 million passengers.