Danger Rides the Rails

Railroads are the nation’s most vulnerable transit system, yet receive little security funding or attention from the government

By EILEEN SULLIVAN, Special Correspondent

Terrorist groups in several locales are sending strong signals that they are eyeing U.S. rails as targets. Meanwhile, several U.S. experts note the rail system is the nation’s most vulnerable transportation network, yet it receives far less security funding and official attention than air transit or ports and waterways.

“Of course al Qaeda is planning to attack the U.S. rail system — the attacks in London and Madrid make that crystal clear,” said Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass. “The reality is that our rail system is extremely vulnerable.”

Since 9/11, al Qaeda and other terrorist groups have killed and maimed hundreds in bombings of rail systems in widely separated locales.

• On July 11, more than 200 people died and 600 were injured by seven explosions on trains in the suburban railroad networks of Mumbai, India.
• On July 7, 2005, 56 people were killed and more than 700 injured when four suicide bombers with links to al Qaeda blew up trains on the London underground system and one bus. A second coordinated attack occurred in London two weeks later, but none of the main explosive charges detonated and there were no casualties. More than a dozen suspects have been arrested for their alleged connection to the attacks.
• In Madrid, 191 people were killed and thousands were injured when 10 bombs exploded on four commuter trains on March 11, 2004. A European terrorist cell with links to al Qaeda, Abu Hafs Al-Masri Brigade, was responsible for the attacks.
• An attempt to blow up trains in Germany on July 31 failed when suitcases filled with propane gas explosives did not go off. Two suspects with alleged terrorist ties have been arrested.

Overall, there were about 184 terrorist attacks on rails across the globe from 1998-2006, resulting in 860 deaths and thousands of injuries, according to the Rand Corp.

Successful attacks increase the risk of future attacks with the same tactics and techniques, said Ben Venzke, chief executive officer of IntelCenter, a private company that analyzes terrorist risks. A successful attack can also inspire other terrorist operational planners because it shows how it can be carried out, he said. The model for planning future operations is to always look at what was successful in the past.

“So, unfortunately, we’re going to be seeing more events like this,” Venzke said.

Even under the best of circumstances, subways and commuter lines are difficult to protect because of their high traffic volumes, multiple access points and large concentrations of people.

Despite the vulnerabilities of rail transit, the Bush administration and Congress are not doing enough to address the issue and improve security on the nation’s rails, according to Markey and other experts.

Between fiscal years 2003-2006, the Department of Homeland Security spent $388 million for rail and mass transit security, according to Markey’s office. Since the 9/11 attacks, the airline industry has received about $20 billion, according to some estimates.

The psychological impact of these types of attack is substantial because rails are an absolute necessity in many urban areas. After the recent attacks in Mumbai, some were surprised people were getting back on the train the next day.

But “they don’t have any other choice,” said Venzke.

Most Americans do have other options, but each year there are 9.5 billion passenger trips on mass transit — many of them on rail — and there are more than 230,000 miles of track in the United States.

While some government and railroad officials say there are security plans and programs in place, union officials said they have seen no effort to address the realistic threat of an attack on the rail system.

“No union officials have seen it, and it’s something that remains a mystery,” said John Bentley, spokesman for the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen.

“We would like to see rail yards become better protected, because right now there are yards that are just wide open,” he said.

Greg Hull, director of safety and security programs at the Washington-based American Public Transit Association, which includes the Metropolitan Transit Authority of New York, the Chicago Transit Authority and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said the industry needs more advanced technologies and coordination with the federal government.

“The level of support from Congress hasn’t arrived yet,” he said.

Recently, Congress did authorize more than $4.5 billion for rail security over the next several years in the final version of port security legislation. The Department of Homeland Security’s spending bill for 2007 includes $175 million for intercity rail transportation, $37 million for surface transportation and an additional $13.2 million for rail security inspectors. Aviation security will receive $4.7 billion in 2007, according to the bill.

“The terrorist attacks on rail and transit systems in Spain, London and Mumbai should be enough evidence to convince the Republican-led Congress that U.S. rails are dangerously vulnerable,” Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, D-Conn., said.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has advocated for enhancing rail security, but the provisions he offered in an amendment to the recent port security bill were not included in the conference report.

Lawmakers have called for more security training to be provided for employees in the rail and transit industry. The Transportation Security Administration is currently working on a program that would provide standards for employee awareness training and other security-related measures for the transit industry.

Since 2001, the Federal Transit Administration, part of the Department of Transportation, has given security training to 80,000 transit employees, according to Terry Rosapep, who runs the program management office in the agency. There are about 300,000 transit employees across the country.

Currently, the agency is working with Johns Hopkins University to provide a course on strategic counterterrorism for transit managers. This summer, federal agencies and the railroads agreed on voluntary security measures for the transportation of toxic materials.

In an August interview with CBS, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the United States is continually increasing security for rail passengers.

“It’s obvious we can’t do for rail passengers or subway passengers at the Metro what we do at the airlines, namely, make them wait in line, not bring bottles on to the train or subway, so we have to configure an architecture that works with that system,” Chertoff said.

“We’ve got more dog teams and more detection teams. We’re funding video cameras, which worked very well in London. We are experimenting with the kinds of devices that would allow us to detect explosives at a distance, but not make people pass through portals,” he said.

Venzke said rails and aircraft will probably never be out of the mix for the top-tier al Qaeda targets because of their very nature — they can be attacked with relatively low costs and the opportunity is available in every metropolitan area.

A rail system “provides them with the optimal operational flexibility,” he said. “If they need to accelerate [the plan], they can. If they need to delay it, they can.”

Increasing security would not necessarily dissuade al Qaeda, Venzke said. Terrorists will simply spend more time and energy to overcome the new obstacles in place. Time is not a concern for them.

That is not to say increasing security is a fruitless measure, he added. Increased security complicates things for the planners.

“The greater the difficulty in executing the attack due to the security measures in place, the greater the likelihood the attack is going to fail,” Venzke said. “The more you can complicate the task for them the better.”

Additional security will not necessarily force terror groups to change their minds about an attack; it will more likely just require them to take more time to plan it.

This is why the layered approach to security is the best, experts said. Random bag checks, roving security officers, people collecting tickets that know what to look for — all of this dramatically increases the chances that something could go wrong for a prospective bomber.

“There are only so many things you can do for securing [targets],” Venzke said. “The most secure rail system would be one that has no people on it, because it wouldn’t be a target.”