A Disaster Waiting To Happen

I'm a frequent writer of counterterrorism related postings at Suite101.com and the issue of defending against threats to American infrastructure has come up repeatedly. One of the concerns in the New York area is the poor condition of the rail tunnels used by AMTRAK, New Jersey Transit, and the MTA.

These tunnels are the lifeblood of the region, shuttling thousands of commuters into and out of the city on a daily basis.

Yet, their safety and security systems are woefully inadequate.

The Amtrak-owned rail tunnels to Manhattan are a ter rorist disaster waiting to happen. A simple explosive device — like the ones triggered on two commuter trains in Madrid a year ago today — could kill thousands and paralyze commuter traffic for months.

Firefighting equipment in the tunnels is perilously inadequate. Standpipes to bring water to several portions do not exist. The ventilation system is completely inadequate.

And the escape routes for passengers are up spiral staircases one person wide. If someone fainted, thousands would be trapped. In any case, firefighters couldn't enter the tunnel as people were fleeing.

Amtrak has known about those hazards for decades, yet has taken only minimal precautions. Instead, it spends its money running trains through sparsely populated regions of the South and West to satisfy powerful congressmen.

AMTRAK funding, like that of the broader funding of homeland security, is based on porkbarrel politics, not actual need. So, we get allocation of funding in less than optimal ways. Montana gets AMTRAK trains with minimal usage, while the high capacity (and singularly profitable) Northeast Corridor lacks on maintenance and security upgrades.

Today is the 1-year anniversary of the Madrid train bombings that killed 191 people. We should not wait til that happens here to effectuate change.

The improvements to the tunnels must be done sooner, rather than later.

Don't say we didn't warn you.