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WORLD NEWSSaturday 29 August 2015
Attack draws new scrutiny to railways linking open Europe
LORI HINNANT for passports or even ID. pressure to increase secu- ternational security chal- a European level,” Guil-
LORNE COOK The man who plotted to rity in the 26 countries that lenge they say isn’t limited laume Pepy, the CEO of
Associated Press attack a high speed train allow travel without border to mass transit, even if the France’s SNCF rail network,
PARIS (AP) — Europe’s rail last week paid in cash, al- checks. railways are an acknowl- told the BFM television net-
system is at the heart of its lowing him to avoid identi- The EU has ruled out tight- edged target. work this week.
The attack Aug. 21 on the Without open borders, rail
French soldiers patrol at Gare du Nord train station in Paris, France. The attack Aug. 21 on the Thalys train from Amster- services could not com-
dam to Paris happened pete with low-cost air
Thalys train from Amsterdam to Paris happened at the height of the summer travel season. at the height of the sum- travel. Indeed any security
mer travel season, when measure that might stop
France hosts emergency talks in Paris on Saturday, with representatives from other high-speed the cars were packed with people easily hopping
tourists, including the three on an international train
international rail nations, Belgium, Britain, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain American friends — two in downtown could be the
the military — who tackled system’s undoing.
and Switzerland. (AP Photo/Binta) and ultimately subdued “It is important not to act
the gunman. The attacker, rashly or overreact,” said
open borders, a way for fying himself, and boarded ening controls at the fron- identified as Ayoub El-Khaz- Libor Lochman, Executive
passengers to travel on in Brussels, the EU capital, tiers, leaving individual zani, selected the train, re- Director of the European
some of the world’s fast- and carried a small arse- governments — and the fusing a ticket for an earlier railways umbrella organi-
est and most sophisticated nal of weapons in his bag. train companies them- connection. He had been zation, CER. “The level of
mass transit with no need The thwarted attack raises selves — to resolve an in- flagged for links to radical threat from terrorism is dif-
Islamists by Spain, and Ger- ferent in each EU coun-
man officials tracked him try, so flexible measures
flying from Berlin to Istanbul are needed to adapt to
in May. changing security threats.”
Trains in Europe have been The European Union be-
targeted for terrorist attack lieves there’s no need to
before, notably in London change the agreement,
and Madrid. And Europe is known as Schengen, which
not alone in its vulnerabil- ensures free movement of
ity. Train networks in Japan goods, services and busi-
and the United States op- ness.
erate similarly. The Euro- National police and rail
star connecting Britain to companies are free to
Brussels and Paris requires screen and check passen-
a passport and luggage ger bags as much as they
checks, and China has X- want and even to check
ray checks on subways. people’s ID, which citizens
But the latest incident has are obliged to carry in Eu-
left authorities puzzling rope. What they can’t do is
over how to boost security scan that ID to a database
without causing transport — be it customs or criminal
gridlock, imposing exorbi- — because this would con-
tant costs security services, stitute a border check.
or unpicking the painstak- Come Saturday, the EU will
ingly drawn up agreement press for the increased use
that allows passport-free of closed circuit cameras
travel. in trains and stations, and
“It is better to concentrate more metal detectors at
on concrete measures entrances.
that we can put into place The European Commission
easily and that will actu- will raise the idea of using
ally improve security,” said full-body scanners for peo-
Nathalie Goulet, a French ple who try to board at the
senator who led a com- last minute. Another idea
mission investigating jihadi is the more concerted use
networks. “I have a hope of passenger information,
for logical measures, not in which some companies al-
extravagant things.” ready collect, the way that
France hosts emergency traveler data is collected
talks in Paris on Saturday, for security purposes in air
with representatives from transport.
other high-speed interna- Plain-clothes “rail mar-
tional rail nations — Bel- shals” are another possibil-
gium, Britain, Germany, It- ity. Staff working on trains
aly, Luxembourg, the Neth- could be trained to handle
erlands, Spain and Switzer- weapons, for example. The
land, as well as the Euro- idea is to create psycho-
pean Union’s top transport logical comfort, by reassur-
and interior affairs officials. ing travelers and leaving
“The Thalys is a train that potential criminals wonder-
covers four countries. This ing whether armed person-
has to be dealt with on nel are aboard.q
