Senator seeks rail security funds

As the Senate prepares to consider a wide range of transportation provisions during next month's floor debate of its sweeping homeland security bill, some lawmakers are warning that potential vulnerabilities in the nation's rail system have been largely overshadowed by Congress' mad dash to bolster aviation security.

"Our lack of rail security precautions is an Achilles heel in our nation's efforts to secure our transportation system," Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., said recently. "It would be nice to believe that our rail system will never be a target for terrorists, but this is naïve."

The Senate's homeland security bill, S. 2452, includes a Carper-authored amendment that would provide Amtrak with $1.2 billion for rail security improvements.

About $375 million of that would be earmarked for grants to subsidize high-tech security enhancements, such as explosive-detection equipment and communications upgrades for Amtrak police and crews, according to a Carper aide.

The funds also could be used for video surveillance and remote monitoring of Amtrak's critical infrastructure components, such as tunnels, bridges, track junctions and stations. But the language would give Amtrak officials the flexibility to use those funds for other security enhancements, such as bomb-sniffing dogs and additional security personnel.

Republicans on the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee opposed Carper's provision, noting that the fiscal 2003 transportation spending bill, S. 2808, includes $1.2 billion-more than double the Bush administration's request-for Amtrak next year. The emergency fiscal 2002 spending law enacted last week also includes $205 million to keep Amtrak operating through Sept. 30.

But Carper's aide noted that both of those measures would only provide Amtrak with enough funds to continue operating at its current level and would not provide any security enhancements.

As of June 30, Amtrak had received about 75 percent of the $106 million earmarked for railroad security improvements under the emergency spending law enacted last year, the White House Office of Management and Budget announced last week. But Senate Democrats maintain that Amtrak needs hundreds of millions more dollars to prevent terrorist attacks through improved surveillance and other security upgrades.

"To date, the federal government has failed to take the steps necessary to make [rail service] secure," Carper said. "Amtrak's security personnel are stretched thin, and require better resources to prevent a terrorist attack."

Amtrak spokesman Clifford Black said that aside from bomb scares that proved to be "hollow threats," Amtrak has not had any specific terrorist threats since the Sept. 11 attacks.

Still, Black said Amtrak officials' security "wish list" includes a "broad array" of high-tech equipment-such as explosive-detection devices, surveillance cameras and motion sensors-that would be installed at key infrastructure points around the country.

"But wish lists are rarely fulfilled in their entirety," Black said.