ABC News Tests Train Security

ByABC News
September 9, 2004, 3:41 PM

Sept. 9, 2004 -- -- How difficult would it be to place a bomb on a bus or train in the United States? Not very difficult at all, an ABC News investigation found.

An ABC News team purchased a train ticket with cash in a suburban Maryland town two weeks ago. No representative asked for identification or screened carry-on bags, nor were there visible signs of security.

After boarding the train and placing a backpack overhead, the team began its journey with other commuters toward the nation's capital. The bag contained books, a cell phone and notepads, but no explosives.

After getting off the train two stops later, the backpack was left behind in plain view. Two ABC News producers stayed to watch the bag, as well as people's reactions. No one noticed the unattended backpack neither passengers nor conductors.

It traveled 45 minutes, through six stations to Washington, D.C.

"If a terrorist wants to put a bomb on a train, they probably have about a 99 percent chance of success," said Randall Larsen, founder and chief executive officer of Homeland Security Associates.

During another test on a Virginia commuter rail line several weeks ago, security officers with a bomb-sniffing dog walked past the abandoned backpack, but only after it had been on board for 30 minutes.

This week, on an Amtrak train from Washington, D.C., another backpack placed by ABC News traveled two and a half hours, all the way into New York City's Penn Station.

A top Homeland Security official says the tests by ABC News made him uneasy.

"It just confirms your fears that there are vulnerabilities in our system," said Asa Hutchinson, undersecretary for border and transportation security at the Department of Homeland Security.

Since the Madrid train bombing in March, the U.S. government has been trying to improve train security by testing ways to screen passengers and issuing new guidelines for rail protection. The attack taught security officials several important lessons.