Brussels Subway Bombing & The Challenge Of US Rail Security. 95% Of All Stations Unmanned

Alan: 95% of all U.S. train stations are automated with no on-site personnel. 

Even so, the fascist psyche believes that suppression, repression and violent enforcement can actually prevent trains from blowing up. 

Long before "the authorities" can impose enough discipline and enact enough security to prevent terror attacks, Open Society closes and The System seizes. 

Fascism attracts people (typically of limited intellect) who believe "life" can be made safer than "God/Universe" intended it to be.

Brussels subway bombing highlights challenge of rail security in U.S.

 Bart Jansen, USA TODAY

With a goal of moving massive amounts of people rapidly and cheaply, mass transit systems have long resisted adopting airport-style security at subways, trains and buses, but the terror attack in a downtown Brussels metro station lays bare huge vulnerabilities in transit systems in the U.S. and worldwide.

The Brussels subway attack that killed at least 20 people, injured dozens of others and brought transportation to a standstill was just the latest in a string of attacks that targeted the least secure member of the mass transit family. In 2004, terrorists bombed a commuter train in Madrid, killing 191 people and injuring 2,000. In 2005, suicide bombers killed 52 people in the London Underground and on a double-decker bus.

The attacks underscore the problem: Ease of travel for millions of daily commuters make trains and subway stations easy targets for terrorists. While airports can funnel people their smaller number of travelers through highly manned security checkpoints, New York City subway stations have more than 1,000 exits for millions of daily passengers.

Five times as many people per day in the U.S. travel by subway than by plane, a November report by the Congressional Research Service found.

"We can never have the same level of security on trains as we do on planes,” said U.S. Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., who supports more canine units and random searches for rail security.

“Just by its nature, you couldn’t possibly do it. You couldn’t ask for IDs, you couldn’t have magnetometers for the millions of people," King added.

Trains carry travelers on 5 billion trips a year, while airline flights account for about 730 million.

It's not only inefficient to provide high security. It's costly. Screening just one airline passenger costs the Transportation Security Administration $7, more than the price of a round-trip ticket to most Metro stops in Washington, D.C., said Brian Michael Jenkins, director of the National Surface Transportation Security Center at the Mineta Transportation Institute.

Add on a 10- to 15-minute wait — shorter than what is typical in today's airport security lines — and "it would destroy public surface transportation," he added.

Crowds of people waiting to get through a security back up at a crammed train station create another target for terrorists, said Jeff Price, a transportation-security expert and associate professor at Metro State University in Denver.

“There would have to be massive changes in facilities throughout the U.S., and ultimately, we would just end up creating more crowds for bombers to attack," he said.

Subways and train systems take a different security approach. The TSA posts high-profile canine teams with local police in subway and train stations, but devotes a small fraction of the resources dedicated to airports. Uniformed police officers patrol train and subway platforms and perform random searchers of travelers when security is heightened.

On Tuesday, police at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey increased security at its three area airports — John F. Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark — and at bridges, tunnels and bus terminals. Additional bag checks also were conducted at Manhattan's busy Penn Station.

New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton said a special police unit is now permanently assigned to the Times Square subway station, but the Tuesday deployment was planned in advance of the Brussels assault.

"Increasing the number of security personnel does cause them to back off," Jenkins said of research on terrorists who survived their own attacks. Educational campaigns encouraging travelers and transportation workers to report suspicious activity also get results, he added.

A Mineta Transportation Institute study of worldwide incidents found that nearly 9% of thwarted bombings on trains, buses and ferries were discovered by passengers or workers before the bomb detonated, Jenkins said. "The reason for that appears to be the effectiveness of these 'See something, say something' campaigns," he said.

Jeh Johnson, secretary of Homeland Security, said TSA was deploying additional security at rail and transit stations around the country. He also encouraged travelers to report suspicious activity.

“In today’s environment, we urge the public to continue to travel, visit public events and places, and continue with their daily lives, but at all times be aware and vigilant,” Johnson said.

Gathering intelligence to thwart plots before terrorists reach a train station is also key, King said.

“The odds are against us," he said. "The odds are with them.”

Contributing: Kevin Johnson