A Tale of Two Transportation Systems

Amtrak has announced it is stepping up its security measures.

And my thought here is, Security? What security?

After 9/11, the nation's airports practically went into lockdown: no visitors past the security checkpoint, all passengers go through metal detectors, all bags are screened, and uniformed security officials are everywhere. Now people have to take off their shoes, and in some airports, even have to go through air machines to test for chemical residues. By the time you get on the plane, your ticket and ID have been checked a minimum of four times, and both you and your bag at least one time.

By contrast, the railways are FAR too open for my peace of mind. When I took my first long-distance train ride from New York to my aunt and uncle's house in Maryland, I was shocked at how open the rail system is, compared to the airports. You can buy a ticket online and pick it up from a kiosk, go down to the train platform (when the train arrives) after only a cursory ticket check by a gate official, and hop on the train, which starts rolling out of the station mere minutes after everyone boards. (On that first trip to Maryland, the train was almost to Delaware before the conductor came by to punch my ticket.) At no time are you asked for any ID, unless you happen to buy your ticket from a window teller at the station.

What would the conductor do if someone hopped on the wrong train, I wonder? Throw that person off the train halfway to their destination?

I guess there isn't as much need for security on a form of transportation that can't exactly be smashed into skyscrapers for maximum loss of life, but terrorists have targeted trains in Spain, India, Russia, and London, so it's not unheard of. Due to the increased terrorism threat, Amtrak is going to start random bag checks, and officers with automatic weapons and bomb-sniffing dogs will be roaming the stations and the trains. They believe that random checks will deter terrorists more than constant security, because the random checks will be harder to predict (and thus, harder to develop ways around security).

That's about the best they can do, if they want to keep the system as open—and, unlike the airlines, actually on-time—as it is now. I appreciate the punctuality (and yes, not having to wait through a horrendously long security line), but I'd be lying if I said Amtrak's idea of security doesn't make me nervous.