DHS unveils rail security plan

No sooner has the Bush administration proposed a new rail security system, than Democrats onm the Hill slammed it as insufficient. DHS unveiled a plan which would require freight and passenger rail systems to inspect rail cars and keep them in secure areas when not in use. Democrats criticized the plan for not paying sufficient attention to the specific risks involved in carrying and storing extremely hazardous materials.

The proposal would give the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) authority to inspect railroads, rail yards, and mass transit rail systems. The 708 railroads affected would have to designate a rail security coordinator to receive intelligence from the government, and would have to report significant security concerns and potential threats. The proposal also would require receivers of hazardous materials to keep the rail car in a secure area until it is unloaded. Freight railroads would have to report the location of a rail car when requested by the government.

Analysts note that the DHS proposal falls short of what at least nine cities have proposed — that is, rerouting around densely populated areas trains that are carrying hazardous material. The District of Columbia, for example, passed a law in 2005 banning hazardous material shipments within 2.2 miles of the Capitol. CSX Transportation sued the city, and the case is pending.

The rail industry is afraid that if Washington, D.C. prevails in court, then dozens of cities will follow Washington’s lead. The railroads say that forcing trains to take longer, circuitous routes is itself dangerous, becasue it makes trains spend more time trvaling while carrying hazardous materilas, thus allowing terrorists more of an opportunity for attacks, to say nothing of the added costs of traveling longer routes.

By the way: TSA director Kip Hawley previously was a senior executive with Union Pacific.

-read more in Leslie Miller’s AP report (sub. req.)