Amtrak Chief: Trains Are More Vulnerable Than Planes
- Posted on May 18, 2011 at 2:04am by
Scott Baker
- Print »
- Email »
WASHINGTON (AP) — Amtrak President Joseph Boardman says he wants to step up security patrols of the passenger rail network and explore new technologies able to provide advance warning of track tampering following revelations that al Qaida considered attacking U.S. trains.
Boardman told a Senate panel Tuesday that the agency has expanded its use of explosive-sniffing dogs and is in close contact with U.S. and international security agencies.
He said promising ultrasonic and laser technologies may enable detection of track problems far ahead of trains. But he cautioned that trains are more vulnerable to attack than planes because terrorists have more ability to access trains and track.
He said more patrols of tracks are needed to identify specific points of vulnerability.
Popular Stories
MSNBC Host Snaps in Heated Segment: ‘What in the World Is Riskier Than Being a Poor Person in America?’ 682 Comments
Does Misstated Marathon Claim Prove Paul Ryan Is Dishonest? (POLL) 644 Comments
‘Jumah at the DNC’ Speaker: ‘Muslims Visited America Prior to Columbus’ & ‘It Was a Muslim’ Who Guided Him to the ‘New World’ 523 Comments
Obama: RNC Like Watching ‘Black-and-White TV’ Because Romney ‘Did Not Offer a Single New Idea’ 360 Comments
Roseanne Barr: Most Billionaires ‘Violent Pedophiles’ & ‘Heartless’ Cocaine Addicts 314 Comments
Faith
This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 164 Comments- Pakistani Muslim Cleric Accused of Framing Disabled Christian Girl in Koran-Burning Case Read More
- ‘Made Up Religion’: TV Historian Enrages Muslims, Receives Threats After Producing UK Documentary Questioning Islam’s Beginnings 200 Comments
Meet the Controversial German Imam Accused of Brutally Beating His Wife & Pushing Sharia Law Read More
‘Self-Proclaimed Messiah’ & Unification Church Leader the Rev. Sun Myung Moon Has Died — Here’s His Life Story Read More
Business
- Germany’s Upcoming Court Ruling Will be Huge for the EU Read More
Ford Looks to Beat Toyota for Best-Selling Car in 2012 With This Model 146 Comments
Bernanke & QE3: Here’s What You Need to Know Read More- ‘Extortion’: Why Did the Labor Department ‘Drop the Hammer’ on Oregon Farmers? 300 Comments
Scathing New Ad Capitalizes on Rep. Ryan‘s ’Fading Obama Posters’ Remark 124 Comments
Technology
- This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 164 Comments
‘TaserDrone’: Hackers Weaponize Quadcopter With Actual ‘Shocking’ Technology Read More
Ever Heard of the Wild ‘Burning Man’ Festival in the Middle of the Nev. Desert? Here’s Your Primer Read More
Stanford Develops Technology ‘Better Than Steroids’ for Athlete Recovery Read More
Have You Pretended to Know What ‘the Cloud’ Is? You’re Not Alone Read More
Submitting your tip... please wait!
Comments (57)
jacobstroubles
Posted on May 18, 2011 at 10:05amof course he’s going to say this…Amtrack is a loser…he want money – he’ll playball to get what he wants for himself and his buddies.
Report Post »Whostolemypig
Posted on May 18, 2011 at 9:58amWith all the protest around the country, flash mobs, popcorn protests, etc., I wouldn’t be surprised if we next have mass fake orgasm protest during the TSA gropings.
Report Post »oldsoldier10
Posted on May 18, 2011 at 9:26amI seent dats trains in chinaland dat floo into dat building and sploded? Really trains rarely fly into buildings.
Report Post »Rickfromillinois
Posted on May 18, 2011 at 9:08amWhy would terrorists attack Amtrak? With the amount of money that it is sucking from taxpayers it is actually doing allot of damage to the country already.
Report Post »TexasStu
Posted on May 18, 2011 at 9:00amI can see that is probably true that trains are more vulnerable than planes it is just no one rides a train and if killing and shock is what they are after it is not worth it.
Report Post »JUSTANOTHEROPINION
Posted on May 18, 2011 at 8:05amAny excuse to strip us of our rights.
Report Post »Outlaw_Josey_Wales
Posted on May 18, 2011 at 7:15amNow the TSA wants to touch my junk at the train station.
Report Post »BONETRAUMA
Posted on May 18, 2011 at 7:13amShut down the borders. Shut down Amtrak. Now we would all be much safer. Problem solved.
Report Post »mom4times
Posted on May 18, 2011 at 7:08amWhat makes me laugh is that they think about security now…..what happened 8,9, 10 yrs ago with security…..the only change I noticed was the military presence in Penn station…..other than that….nothing, zilch, notta
Report Post »GERATMO
Posted on May 18, 2011 at 6:57amWhy does the Gov. keep telling our enemies our vulnerabilities?
Report Post »let us prey
Posted on May 18, 2011 at 8:04amExactly, there is more to this. Maybe this is the excuse to shut down the media. There goes the free speech. Janetalia style.
Report Post »quicker
Posted on May 18, 2011 at 6:22amRailways are vurnable .All terrist have to do is find one tha is loaded with passigers.go to a spot in a ruluil area where the train can get up to speed and derail it. The death toll would be massive as train can`t stop on a dime.The same thing with a freight train ,only at night and in a town.But I still think our schools will be hit next.Remember terrist don`t need a high death count ,Any one who has kids just think when a crimanal holes up in a school how do you feel if was in your school.
Report Post »oldasdirt
Posted on May 18, 2011 at 6:14amTrains,planes,water, food,bridges.We can in no way stop these attacks here on our soil.
Report Post »But we can stop the attacks.
Start bombing the leaders of any radical nation,and kill them.They will replace that leader.But if that leader stays on the radical corse,bomb and kill him.Eventualy they will get a leader that will have sense enough to leave us alone.
Now that person may be the finial goat hearder in there nation,I dont care.So be it.
GERATMO
Posted on May 18, 2011 at 6:59amWe shouldnt bomb them because I dont want to pay to rebuild their country.
Report Post »Av8tor056
Posted on May 18, 2011 at 8:40pmGERATMO
We shouldnt bomb them because I dont want to pay to rebuild their country.
Why rebuild it? If they want to hurt us, hurt them back. And keep hurting them until they get the message. I don’t care if they like us or hate us afterwards; as long as they leave us alone.
Report Post »NickDeringer
Posted on May 18, 2011 at 5:46amCool. Yet another reason not to ride Amtrack.
Report Post »Living In NYC
Posted on May 18, 2011 at 5:22amReally..good call Joe…what about transit buses!
Report Post »OperationNorthwoods
Posted on May 18, 2011 at 4:12amGet ready to be groped and radiation scanned before you get on the train. Don’t you just love the “war on terror”. Keep buying the lies and losing your freedom suckers.
Report Post »Cold War Vet
Posted on May 18, 2011 at 3:02amWhy does Obama get to board Air Force One without a TSA grope/patdown?
Report Post »We have probable cause. He’s friendly to our enemies, and dumps on us and our allies.
Teaparty-grammy
Posted on May 18, 2011 at 3:43amTo Cold War Vet:
How very sad, but completely true. I love it when he sits there and tells me I should buy $50 light bulbs to save the environment, while he uses Air Force One as his personal limo for him and Moo-chelle to buzz the city and scare h*ll out of people in New York , or jet off to Chicago to register voters in the cemeteries, eat ribs, or whatever.
Report Post »Cold War Vet
Posted on May 18, 2011 at 2:59amTSA gropes are a violation of our Fourth Amendment Constitutional Rights. Unreasonable search/seizure of your person/premises without probable cause and a warrant.
Maybe it’s time I started putting some sort of booby trap in my pants. Rat Trap maybe?
Report Post »Av8tor056
Posted on May 18, 2011 at 8:36pmBe careful with that. You might trap something you need later.
Report Post »cookcountypatriot
Posted on May 18, 2011 at 2:57amtalk about fear mongering…its almost like he,s trying to scare people into not using the trains….interesting
Report Post »Cold War Vet
Posted on May 18, 2011 at 2:55amWhat next? TSA gropes before we can get into our own cars?
Oh, I forgot. They don’t want us driving personally-owned vehicles.
Report Post »Diane TX
Posted on May 18, 2011 at 2:54amOh no. I have four sisters, and three of them refuse to fly on airplanes. One sister, and I do fly on airplanes. The three sisters thought that the trains would be safe.
After this news, I want every Muslim checked at airports and train stations. That would include their 18 month old babies.
Report Post »NuffSaid
Posted on May 18, 2011 at 2:42amA bureaucrat will do anything, lie to any one, kiss any butt in order to expand his reach, his budget, his staff and his lunch hour.
Stop the BS AMTRAK. Just hire descent Americans and allow them to do thier jobs. No unions, no BS.
If you want to get a dog, find one who can smell a muz or a progressive communist. An don’t treat the dog like you treat your employees.
If we let these weak-kneed, -kiss-a** bureaucrats protect us from our neemies rather than just do what’s right ourselves, we’ll all wind up in burkahs. Get out of the way Obama and your little toadies. I’ll do it myself!
Report Post »Captain Crunch
Posted on May 18, 2011 at 2:35amFew of us have the access necessary to keep a watchful eye on airplanes and airports. Most of us regularly see tracks, bridges, switching yards, RR maintenance access roads. Keep your eyes open.
Report Post »One of the problems we are faced with in reguards to railroads is that the access roads are often used for illegal dumping, 4 wheeler fun, etc. In the past I and my friends have been involved in many activities along railroad tracks. I faced a criminal trespassing charge and a $300.00 fine once for using railroad property to run my dogs. Also got a court order to stay off of railroad property for the rest of my life unless I was on official legitimate business. RR police are nobody to mess with. This was several years ago. I can guess they will be even stricter now. If you know people who do things like I just described please warn them. The courts don’t believe in citizens patroling RR property with the intention of helping with security. Keep your eyes open but don’t take a chance trespassing. They WILL nail you!
commonsenseguy
Posted on May 18, 2011 at 2:24amwow,they just celebrated their 40th anniversary, do you think they held this info until after the party, or did the the lose of profit,make getting the info slow. just another behind the times government agency .
Report Post »this administration is far out of touch with reality, that they would not know if we were about to run out of toilet paper,until they were on the pot. o well, this is what we have to look forward to under communist rule.
Bennie Franklin
Posted on May 18, 2011 at 2:16amYes…lets restrict the movement along the railways now. The next thing to come is concrete barriers and roadblocks with checkpoints into areas. They will find a way to justify it.
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on May 18, 2011 at 2:11amTrains are more secure than our borders.
If we’d done the job to begin with, we wouldn’t have this problem. We didn’t have it until Obama/Soetoro usurped the White House.
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on May 18, 2011 at 2:14amShowtime:
Agreed, the fact is we are still incredibly vulnerable under Napoletano and the administration; they are failing to do what needs to be done, and deliberatly at that. So until the admin is gone in ‘12 we the people need to keep watch and warn of anything out of the ordinary we see…of course though, then the admin can use it for the expansion of their agenda as they want to…Van Jones and his pressure, pressure, pressure.
Report Post »RLTW
Posted on May 18, 2011 at 2:14amYes, yes. TSA for trains that’s what we need. How about Amtrak work with a profit margin first?
Report Post »GODSAMERICA
Posted on May 18, 2011 at 2:36amEnd AMTRAK and it will be completely safe. I like the idea of the passenger train however like RLTW said:
Report Post »“How about Amtrak work with a profit margin first?”
Eric_The_Red_State
Posted on May 18, 2011 at 2:55amYou cant fly a train into a building –
But you can easily harm people if you want to.
AND ask yourself – what IS the role of the Government? To protect it’s citizens.
Do you feel safer having our government in charge of your safety?
Report Post »cheezwhiz
Posted on May 18, 2011 at 3:05amadvance warning of track tampering following revelations that al Qaida considered attacking U.S. trains.
Report Post »————–
It doesn’t make any sense at all.
Why would alqaeda want to attack U.S . trains ?
I remember in 2004-2005-2006-2007-2008 when there used to be terror alerts going up for the rail and subway systems , Olberman and everyone in the MFMedia used to tell us that Bush was screaming ‘terror’ to distract us from his falling ratings . They told us then that there was never any intelligence to cause Bush and his DHS step up security for amtrack or NYC subway.Bush was hallucinating because he was dumb and stooopid and loser and lier and cowboy and a scaremonger and fearmongerer.
Now suddenly Amtrack wants pumped up security ? Really ? Or is there someone whose companies are salivating for mucho dinero !
riseandshine
Posted on May 18, 2011 at 3:10amMichael Chertoff comes to mind
Report Post »thebarbarian
Posted on May 18, 2011 at 3:49amtrains like trucks won’t of course get flown into buildings. but for a second think of mass to velocity and then said impact to what/whomever it hits. do you want to be on the recieving end? now lets take a look at cargo.tankers emptied af volitle or semi volitle liquids and powdered metals and GRAINS like wheat/rice/rye are EXPLOSIVE and can do massive damage. tankers loaded may not explode but the ensueing fires can burn in excess of 2000 F and are difficult to put out none the less contain.
card board,paper,plyboars, etc.. will burn at temps. high enough to melt and distort steel. the terrorist know this. they also know that hundreds of said attachs are easy to produce, cheap, and takes little time to plan or implement. Gee i wonder why a lay person can figure that out and would take the appropriate action to secure our borders and incompitano,ovmit,and crew can’t/won’t?!
Report Post »101
Posted on May 18, 2011 at 4:08amAmtrak Chief must need more funding (our tax dollars)
Report Post »Mannax
Posted on May 18, 2011 at 5:16amAmtrak President Joseph Boardman says he wants to step up security patrols of the passenger rail network and explore new technologies able to provide advance warning of track tampering following revelations that al Qaida considered attacking U.S. trains.
Report Post »~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Amtrak President Joseph Boardman says he wants to hire more union thugs to be employed in the T.S.A. to patrol the passenger rail network and do random searches of people like they do in the airports. They also want to waste more money on Amtrack to explore new technologies able to provide advance warning of track tampering following revelations that al Qaida considered attacking U.S. trains without even considering the possibility that the terrorists would have an easier time attacking non-passenger trains.
All this while not calling the terrorists, terrorists.
NOTAMUSHROOM
Posted on May 18, 2011 at 7:15amThey probably decided not to attack any trains because no one rides them.
Report Post »chazman
Posted on May 18, 2011 at 8:03amAmtrak is like anything else run by the government – a failure! In it’s ENTIRE existence, Amtrak has NEVER shown a PROFIT!!!!! Shut it down you stupid, moronic politicians!!
Report Post »Sinista MACE
Posted on May 18, 2011 at 8:18amTrains are more vulnerable than planes, cars are more vulnerable than trains, bike sand motorcycles are more vulnerable than cars, walking is more vulnerable than bikes and motorbikes, we must have one TSA officer for EVERY CITIZEN to pat you down while you walk down the street.
Just be very still, we’ll move your legs for you and adjust your balance for you and shove you down the street in a mockery of walking.
TSA are the terrorists.
Report Post »Sinista MACE
Posted on May 18, 2011 at 9:25amThis is an attack on freedom.
The first way to restrict your freedom is to restrict your freedom of movement, which the TSA has accomplished.
We must rebel against the TSA and their violation of the 4th and 10th.
Abolish the TSA.
Report Post »MontanaRob
Posted on May 18, 2011 at 9:47am“Trains are more secure than our borders.”
Report Post »——————————————————–
That is true to some extent, but as I have spent decades photographing trains, among other things, I have seen so many possibilities for real damage inflicted upon the rail lines and the potential for serious lethal incidents.
Last year I only did a few railfan outings and noticed increased security but not enough to thwart a determined individual, let alone a trained group. With all of this nonsense going on now, I have decided to forget about doing it anymore. A guy with a still and video camera will certainly attract attention these days, even if he has produced numerous commercial works in the past.
Rothbardian_in_the_Cleve
Posted on May 18, 2011 at 11:52amGood news is that they are mostly empty, so there isn’t really a problem.
Report Post »smithclar3nc3
Posted on May 18, 2011 at 11:54amReally who would have thought that a train that runs on tracks at ground level would be easier targets that jetliners flying at 13,000 feet. WOW HE OBVIOUSLY MEMBER OF MENSA….LOL
Report Post »How long are we to suffer these fools,gladly.
GhostOfJefferson
Posted on May 18, 2011 at 12:53pm@AND ask yourself – what IS the role of the Government? To protect it’s citizens.
Not really, no. Their job is to safeguard our rights, which we own. That sometimes involves defending the nation against attack, sometimes involves setting up a legal system to try those who violate our rights, but nothing else really.
Report Post »KewlBigDan
Posted on May 18, 2011 at 5:16pm1. You can’t run a train into a building, stadium or Govt structure.
Report Post »and
2. You don’t need terrorist to make an AMTRAK train crash…I think they average 1 or 2 a month now.
oldoldtimer
Posted on May 18, 2011 at 9:00pmAirplanes, then trains, Buses next and then auto’s. Total search of every one complete. TSA will be at every on ramp to par tou down before you are allowed on the highway. Sound far fetched? Hardly. The plans are already being made. We will have the most secure transportation systems in the world. All you have to do is just walk across the border.
Report Post »markdido
Posted on May 18, 2011 at 10:24pm[quote]RLTW
Posted on May 18, 2011 at 2:14am
Yes, yes. TSA for trains that’s what we need. How about Amtrak work with a profit margin first?[/quote]
I saw this coming right after they announced that that Bin Laden had plans on his computer to attack trains in the U.S.
Only a matter of time before we get another chorus of “You can’t professionalize unless you federalize”
Report Post »jackrorabbit
Posted on May 18, 2011 at 11:12pmYup, they are. However, roads are far more of a risk than Amtrak, so how do we fix this issue? Oh, and lets not forget about the industries that have explosive chemicals, they aren’t well guarded either. Most farmers have enough stuff to blow up a few buildings. There is a boogie man around every corner, which is why we need to defend the boarder, and use the Second Amendment.
Report Post »