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Lets be clear. I didn't imply you were being paranoid, I said so and I stand by that statement. Anything is available for a price. How do you think so many terrorists penetrate places?! People on the inside helped them, they bought fake ID, made copies of keys or bribed people. Look at the Saudi kidnappings, the terrorists drove actual police cars and wore real police uniforms. They got them from sympathizers already in the police service. If somebody wants to blow up a train, they are gonna do it. Pure and simple. Why bother to have "imbedded" terrorists on the train crew? Terrorists plan simple plans. For 9/11 it was necessary for the terrorists to have rudimentary flying skills to aim their missles. No such skills are needed to wreck a train or use a train in mayhem. Look at Madrid. All that took was leaving a bit of unattended luggage on trains in a busy terminal. They didn't try to sabotage the trains or interlockings, that would be too difficult and likely require more work and planning and a much higher likelihood of being caught. The best security for that in the way of background checks is already done by RRs. I still have my old CR photo ID, and I look for that to make a comeback together with other metrics (at least a thumbprint) when new IDs come out. So why dwell on it. The average freight railroad employee will never see a terrorist. Why? Because that isn't where the action is. Look to the large gatherings of people for targets. Most railroads don't even come close. In the areas they do, security is enhanced. Ever taken a stack train to NJCT? When we did it the cops followed our train in groups of at least 4. I haven't been that way in a while but I doubt that has changed. Cops ride commuter trains now, like never before. None of this justifies a lack of security or watchfulness, but I find it insulting that you could suggest that I should now be watching my fellow employees to insure they aren't going to blow something up. In any event, everyone is already watching each other as you point out the RR is a CYA environment for many reasons. If someone gets squirrely he'll be picked out FAST. Insurance increases after 9/11 had nothing to do with increased risk. It had to do with insurance industry issues including competition between insurers and the industry wide denial that terrorism was a real risk coupled with the economic downturn devaluing the insrers asset values and requiring increases in premiums. This is illustrated by the fact that not only RR premiums increased, there were significant increases in virtually every industry. If you believe there is actuarial data showing a specific increase in RR risk where's the data? I'd sure love to see it. LC
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