Government to test new rail security system

[PfcHammer]

http://edition.cnn.com/2004/US/South/05/04/rail.security.ap/index.html

Government to test new rail security system

Tuesday, May 4, 2004 Posted: 0956 GMT (1756 HKT)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Amtrak and commuter rail passengers at one suburban station will have to walk through an explosives detection machine and have their bags screened in a new security experiment designed to frustrate terrorists.

The Transportation Security Administration begins a pilot project Tuesday at a rail stop in a Maryland suburb of Washington. Passengers are to walk through a "puffer" machine, which sucks in the air around them and within seconds determines whether they've been in contact with explosives.

Jack Riley, director of the public safety research program for Rand Corp., a think tank, said harried commuters probably won't like being screened.

"Anything that lengthens their rail experience is just going to meet with resistance," he said.

<snip>

[eyesroll]

1. Jack Riley is right.

Who's going to put up with airport-style security for a commuter train? I can see people being OK with it for long-haul trips (and for high-security functions, like Riley says), but if they start installing this stuff on the Metra, for instance (suburban Chicago commuter train), expect to see ridership plummet.

Not that security isn't needed. But this will be met with resistance.

[displacedtexan]

2. The New Carrollton stop is already a nightmare!

If you don't catch the express Marc Train from Baltimore to DC, the stop at New Carrollton (where this little puffer experiment is being conducted) is a nightmare! You sit almost ten minutes while you watch hundreds of commuters arrive, find a parking place, and sip coffee as they saunter toward the train.

Adding this puffer thing to the New Carrollton stop could double the time it takes these Rob Petries to board the train!