Transport Official Fails to Ease Senate Concerns

A transportation official told dismayed lawmakers Tuesday that although security has been tightened on the nation’s rail lines and at ports, he could not provide specific details that some senators requested.

James Underwood, director of the Transportation Department’s Office of Intelligence and Security, said that requiring baggage checks is under consideration, but he could not offer a possible timeline for when a decision will be made. He insisted that a terrorist hijacking of a railway is “highly unlikely.”

Members of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee were not pleased.

“That’s incredible,” said Sen. John D. “Jay” Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va). “Why wouldn’t one check [bags] when going onto a train if one checks it going onto an airline? Why wouldn’t that be a matter of discussion? I can think of a couple of good reasons. One is resources. . . . It seems to me that’s what you should be telling us--not that ‘We’re not sure if it’s a good idea or not.’ You know it’s a good idea.”

Sen. Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii) said he wanted “to be able to assure [my constituents] that the security necessary has been carried out. [From] what I gathered here today, I am not able to assure them.”

Underwood acknowledged that resources are an issue, but when Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) asked for details about when security could be improved regardless of resource restraints, Underwood said he didn’t know when a report would be available.

Sen. Ernest F. Hollings (D-S.C.), head of the committee, said Underwood’s remarks belied any notion of a “rapid response” to future terrorist attacks. “Tell [your colleagues] that they are not rapid and that they are not responding.”

Railway travel has increased since Sept. 11, as more people turned to Amtrak when airplanes were grounded and as security was heightened when airports reopened. Although airline security has been significantly tightened, lawmakers worry that terrorists will turn to an alternative transportation system for another attack.

“We’re not holding this hearing to scare Americans,” said Sen. John B. Breaux (D-La.), who chaired the hearing. “But there must be measures the government and private sector can take to improve passenger safety on our trains and ships. . . . Our [transportation] system is open, accessible and operates in highly populated areas where severe damage can be caused in high-population centers.”

In addition to Underwood, representatives of cruise lines, shipping companies and private rail firms addressed the panel.

Amtrak President George D. Warrington said that, since the attack, the company has increased the number of police officers patrolling major stations and begun requiring photo identification for passengers.

Warrington asked lawmakers for $3.1 billion to increase security and capacity. About a sixth of that would be used for immediate security measures, such as bomb-sniffing dogs, additional police, security cameras and lighting, he said.

The rest would be used to improve railway tunnels and for equipment repairs and expanding capacity--but only in the northeastern U.S.