Passenger Rail Security: Overview of Issues

Abstract

The March 2004 bombing of passenger trains in Spain highlighted the vulnerability of passenger rail systems to terrorist attack. The number of riders and access points make it impractical to subject all rail passengers to the type of screening airline passengers undergo. Nevertheless, steps can be taken to reduce the risks of an attack. The 9/11 Commission called for a systematic analysis of transportation assets, the risks to those assets, and the costs and benefits of different approaches to defending those assets; the Commission also called for homeland security assistance to be distributed based on these assessments of risks and vulnerabilities, rather than according to population.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 26, 2005
Accession Number
ADA453703

Entities

People

  • David R. Peterman

Organizations

  • Library of Congress

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Congress
  • Department Of Homeland Security
  • Emergencies
  • First Responders
  • Homeland Security
  • Law
  • National Governments
  • National Security
  • Passengers
  • Rail Transportation
  • Risk
  • Security
  • Surface Transportation
  • Transportation
  • Transportation Infrastructure
  • United States
  • Urban Areas

Readers

  • Aviation Safety and Air Traffic Management
  • Cybersecurity.
  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.