Robert Torricelli: “Many of my colleagues have joined me in insisting the Airline Security Act also include rail security. We do so for the…”

“Many of my colleagues have joined me in insisting the Airline Security Act also include rail security. We do so for the following reason: In my State alone, nearly a quarter of a million people ride railroads every day, many of them through old tunnels. The tunnels under the Hudson River were built between 1911 and 1920. As this photograph illustrates, they are largely without ventilation. This is a single fan to exhaust smoke from a fire in a two and a half mile tunnel. Every Amtrak Metroliner, if fully loaded, under the Hudson River or the Baltimore tunnels, or even the approaches to Washington, DC, carries 2,000 passengers, more than three times the number of people on a 747. The tunnels do not have ventilation and they do not have escapes. As this second photograph illustrates, under the East River of New York and under the Hudson River, a single spiral staircase serves to exit 500 to 2,000 passengers. The same spiral staircase would be used for firefighters getting to the train. It is obviously not adequate. Last August, before these attacks occurred, the New York State Commission said it was a disaster waiting to happen. Those are not the only problems. We need police officers on Amtrak trains. We need to screen luggage. We need to ensure that switching mechanisms are safeguarded and secure.”