Panel of Contributors: Local mass transit tackles security issues Panel of Contributors: Local mass transit tackles security issues (August 10, 2005)

By Arthur L. Lloyd

The recent terror attacks on trains and buses in Madrid and London have focused attention on safety and security here in the United States. Even without the remote chance of a bombing of a train or bus, mass transit is infinite1y safer than automobile travel, at any time or place.

On the Peninsula, a five-car Caltrain or 10-car BART train carries more than a Boeing 747. We have 96 weekday Caltrains and BART will operate up to and more than 50 trains at any one time during the day, systemwide.

Yet, the Bush Administration has allocated billions of dollars more for air travel security than for local transportation, which carries many more passengers than airlines each day. Somehow, local transportation, and Amtrak, are expected to come up with funding for security on their own, which cannot be done.

Cameras are being installed on Caltrain and explosive-sniffing dogs are used on a regular basis. Neither Caltrain nor BART have begun to inspect luggage, and Caltrain is barrier-free to board. Both systems would have to come up with substantial funding to initiate such security measures.

Instead, passengers are being asked to help locate unattended articles or suspicious looking passengers. A bag was found on a northbound Caltrain while passing through San Bruno on July 11, and the train was stopped, evacuated and inspected. The suspicious bag contained only coffee. The delay was less than an hour and full service resumed quickly.

Another aspect of the safety issue is the use of "push-pull" technology on commuter carriers, including Caltrain and the Altamont Commuter Express. Since the unfortunate incident in Glendale on January 26, the push mode has drawn criticism that it is unsafe and locomotives should always be on the head of passenger commuter trains.

The Federal Railroad Administration has re-affirmed that having a cab-car on the head end is just as safe as a locomotive, and two incidents on Caltrain this year prove the point. In South San Francisco a motorist, intent on suicide, drove around another car and the track gate directly into the path of a northbound Caltrain.

In Mountain View, a woman and her daughter were pushed by an errant motorist directly into the path of a Baby Bullet traveling at 79 miles per hour. They evacuated their car, safely, and the train hit the car. In both cases there were barely scratches on the cab car and no derailment occurred.

Operating push-pull is inherently safe as the cab car has the same buffer strength as a locomotive. What the people who criticize the system fail to recall is the hundreds of interurban electric and diesel motor cars that have operated in the U.S. and California. These cars ran at about the same speed as today's passenger trains.

Here in the Bay Area we had trains running across the Bay Bridge and throughout the East Bay and, until the last train, on July 12, 1941. Sacramento Northern trains traveled all the way to Sacramento and Chico at high speed in the country. Rail diesel cars were used extensively in commuter service in the Boston area and we had them operating to Salt Lake City on Western Pacific; to Sacramento on Southern Pacific; and to Eureka on the Northwestern Pacific, with no locomotives.

In the Glendale incident, the motorist allegedly was intent on suicide. He was not hit at the crossing but, instead, drove down the track where his SUV was wedged between the rails causing the derailment of the Metrolink train. If he had been hit at the crossing the SUV would have been tossed aside and without a derailment. Also, the car broke into flames, and if a diesel locomotive had been on the head end, instead of the car, a conflagration could have happened with the fuel in the diesel fuel tank. Yes, this is speculation, but this was also pointed out by the investigators.

Bottom line, such incidents are rare. If you want to be safe, use mass transit.

Arthur L. Lloyd is member of the San Mateo County Transit District board, and the joint powers board that oversees Caltrain. He is a resident of Portola Valley and a member of the Almanac's Panel of Contributors.

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