U.K, European rail boom forecast as travelers tire of airport scan queues

British rail // Source: srpsmuseum.org

The introduction of additional security measures at British airports will lead to a surge in demand on the railways because passengers will no longer be prepared to wait, it has been claimed. New full-body scanners are to be introduced within weeks at airports across Britain to thwart would-be suicide bombers. Prime Minister Gordon Brown has revealed that the machines are “already ordered.”

Concerns have been raised that the scanners could significantly increase journey times as passengers queue to go through the detectors. The Scotsman’s Mark Smith writes that this could lead to frequent flyers, particularly business travelers, deciding to opt for the train for domestic and short haul European flights, rail companies and business leaders said.

Virgin Trains the other day confirmed it was preparing for extra passengers on its Glasgow to London Euston service when the scanners are put in place. “We are prepared for an increase in passenger numbers on the Glasgow to London Euston service when the scanners are introduced at airports,” Virgin communications manager Jim Rowe said. “We’ve already seen extra customers on the route since we introduced a new timetable in 2008, with a journey time of about four and a half hours and an almost hourly service between Glasgow and London. As domestic air travel becomes more inconvenient, we are expecting customer numbers to grow significantly. We are ready for it.”

Business leaders said the new security procedures at Edinburgh and Glasgow airports could persuade frequent business flyers to switch to train travel. It was also claimed that video-conferencing could become more popular, as air travel became more time-consuming.

CBI Scotland director Iain McMillan said: “The recession has made video-conferencing more and more popular for meetings, as travel budgets have been severely reduced. That could become entrenched if extra security at airports leads to increased journey times. We could see video conferences becoming the norm, rather than people flying to meet with colleagues. It would certainly be at the margins, but anything that increases journey times also increases costs, and businesses will take that into account.”

One way passengers might avoid delays would be to use the Security Express system, now being given a trial run by BAA at Edinburgh Airport. The system allows frequent flyers — and a companion — to bypass queues at check-in by paying an annual fee. A BAA insider said: “Business customers still have to go through the same security checks as other passengers, but they can get to that point more quickly. The system is currently being piloted at Edinburgh Airport and we could see that expand at other airports if there is more demand.”

A BAA spokesman said the pilot Security Express system at Edinburgh was being evaluated and any decision to expand the service would be taken “at the appropriate time.”

Smith writes that fears over the impact of scanners came as questions were raised about their effectiveness. Some claim that it is “unlikely” they could detect many of the explosive devices used by al-Qaeda. The scanners, costing £100,000 each, will initially operate alongside metal detectors, and the intention is to gradually introduce them for all flights. Tory MP Ben Wallace, who was involved in the testing and development of the technology, warned, however, that it was not “the big silver bullet” to catch all terrorists. He said the “passive millimeter wave scanners” probably would not have picked up the failed Detroit airliner plot or the explosives used in the 2005 London bombings.

Wallace, a former MSP and Scots Guards officer, was employed by QinetiQ as their overseas director in the security and intelligence division. QinetiQ helped develop the passive millimeter wave technology that is used in some scanners.

Wallace said:

The advantage of the millimeter waves are that they can be used at longer range, they can be quicker and they are harmless to travelers. But there is a big but, and the but was that in all the testing we undertook, it was unlikely it would pick up the current explosive devices being used by al-Qaeda. It probably wouldn’t have picked up the Detroit Delta Airlines bomb on Christmas Day, or the very large plot with the liquids in 2006 at Heathrow, or indeed the later July bombs that were used on the Tube. This is not necessarily the big silver bullet that is being portrayed by Downing Street.”

Brown accepted there was no way to be certain the devices would be 100 per cent effective, but he added: “We have found that there is a new form of explosive that is not being identified by ordinary machines. We have got to go further. Our first duty is to the security of the people of this country.”