There were 206 attacks worldwide on trains and rails from 1979 to 2005. In 1980, a bomb killed 75 at a train station in Bologna, Italy. In 1995, eight were killed on a Paris train. In February 2004, two blasts near a Moscow subway killed 51 people, with another 191 dead a month later in Madrid. A series of coordinated suicide bombings on July 7, 2005 struck London's public transport system, killing 56 people and injuring 700. According to Rand Corp., there were a total of 181 terrorist attacks on trains and rail-related targets, such as stations, worldwide from 1998 to 2003, averaging 30 per year. What can security providers do to protect these facilities? The U.S. alone has more than 140,000 miles of track that carry millions of rail passengers every year and scores of freight trains hauling hazardous materials. There are also 19,391 light, commuter and heavy rail carriages in the U.S. (2006), 18,000 rail carriages in Germany (2005), 11,000 rail carriages in the U.K. and Ireland (2005) and 7,136 rail carriages in Austria and Switzerland (2005). A&S takes a closer look.
There were 206 attacks worldwide on trains and rails from 1979 to 2005. In 1980, a bomb killed 75 at a train station in Bologna, Italy. In 1995, eight were killed on a Paris train. In February 2004, two blasts near a Moscow subway killed 51 people, with another 191 dead a month later in Madrid. A series of coordinated suicide bombings on July 7, 2005 struck London's public transport system, killing 56 people and injuring 700. According to Rand Corp., there were a total of 181 terrorist attacks on trains and rail-related targets, such as stations, worldwide from 1998 to 2003, averaging 30 per year. What can security providers do to protect these facilities? The U.S. alone has more than 140,000 miles of tra...