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Amtrak To Begin Baggage Checks

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By SARAH KARUSH, The Associated Press

Published: February 19, 2008

WASHINGTON - Amtrak will start randomly screening passengers' carry-on bags this week in a new security push that includes officers with automatic weapons and bomb-sniffing dogs patrolling platforms and trains.

The initiative, to be announced by the railroad today, is a significant shift for Amtrak.

Amtrak officials insist their new procedures won't hold up the flow of passengers.

"On-time performance is a key element of Amtrak service. We are fully mindful of that. This is not about train delays," said Bill Rooney, the railroad's vice president for security strategy and special operations.

Nor will the moves require passengers to arrive at stations far in advance, officials said. Passengers who are selected randomly for the screening will be delayed no more than a couple of minutes, Amtrak Chief Executive Officer Alex Kummant said.

The new procedures draw heavily on measures being used in the New York subways, Rooney said. That model has been upheld in court challenges, he said.

Amtrak plans to roll out the new "mobile security teams" first on the Northeast Corridor between Washington and Boston, the railroad's most heavily used route, before expanding them to the rest of the country.

The teams will show up unannounced at stations and set up baggage screening areas in front of boarding gates. Officers will pull people out of line at random and wipe their bags with a special swab that is then put through a machine that detects explosives. If the machine detects anything, officers will open the bag for visual inspection.

Anybody who is selected for screening and refuses will not be allowed to board and their ticket will be refunded.

In addition to the screening, counterterrorism officers with bomb-sniffing dogs will patrol platforms and walk through trains, and sometimes will ride the trains, officials said.

Amtrak did not provide figures for the program's cost, but said its total security budget - including police, security strategy and emergency preparedness - is about $60 million. The railroad has about 400 security personnel, including about 300 sworn police officers, Kummant said.

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