U.S. rail network still vulnerable to terror

Surveillance upgrade
“Smart” surveillance cameras may also help security guards, who are often overwhelmed by the sheer number of cameras they are supposed to monitor. Virginia-based ObjectVideo for example, is installing software to help rail officials in Madrid and Barcelona monitor their high-speed rail line. “They have more than 700 cameras and only five or six people to watch them,” said Carlos Angeles, managing director for ObjectVideo in Europe. “That’s 100 cameras per person.”

ObjectVideo’s software makes that task easier by analyzing what the camera sees according to a set of rules, based on an object’s size, location and movement, and if it fits a predetermined profile, sends an alarm to draw the attention of a guard.

But all of these security improvements, from better training to more guards to sophisticated electronic monitors, cost money, and commuter rail systems — public agencies with tight budgets — have little cash to spare. Commuter rail officials complain that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has focused on making airlines safer, but has spent far less money on commuter rail lines — some $15 billion for airlines vs. only $115 million for rail security, though as many as 16 times more people ride rail lines than airplanes.

A recent study by the American Public Transportation Association estimated that rail systems need some $6 billion for security improvements. “There’s pretty much agreement on the things to put in place — more cameras, more sensors, more perimeter protection, improving survivability after an event,” said Harvard homeland security expert Daniel Prieto. But even addressing only the most pressing needs, “We’re talking billions of dollars,” he said. “That is an order of magnitude greater than is being spent.”

Ultimately, however, the lack of money to improve commuter rail security may reflect the public’s interest — or lack of it.

“We as a nation have made a choice that to make our commuter rails secure would require too much disruption of our everyday lives,” said Harvard’s Kayyem, who also is an analyst with MSNBC. “Until there is an attack here, it’s just the nature of this that you don’t respond. We always respond to the last attack.”

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