Passenger and freight rail services help move people and goods through the transportation system, which helps the economic well-being of the United States. Passenger rail services can take many forms. Some mass transit agencies, which can be public or private entities, provide rail services, such as commuter rail and heavy rail (e.g., subway) in cities across the United States. Through these rail services, mass transit agencies serve a large part of the commuting population. For example, in the third quarter of 2003, commuter rail systems provided an average of 1.2 million passenger trips each weekday. The National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) provides intercity passenger rail services in the United States. Amtrak operates a 22,000-mile network, primarily over freight railroad tracks, providing service to 46 states and the District of Columbia. In fiscal year 2002, Amtrak served 23.4 million passengers, or about 64,000 passengers per day. The nation’s freight rail network carries 42 percent of domestic intercity freight (measured by ton miles) in 2001— everything from lumber to vegetables, coal to orange juice, grain to automobiles, and chemicals to scrap iron. Prior to September 11, 2001, DOT—namely, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Federal Transit Administration (FTA), and Research and Special Programs Administration (RSPA)—was the primary federal entity involved in passenger and freight rail security matters. However, in response to the attacks on September 11, Congress passed the Aviation and Transportation Security Act (ATSA), which created TSA within DOT and defined its primary responsibility as ensuring security in all modes of transportation. The act also gives TSA regulatory authority over all transportation modes. With the passage of the Homeland Security Act, TSA, along with over 20 other agencies, was transferred to the new Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Throughout the world, rail systems have been the target of terrorist attacks. For example, the first large-scale terrorist use of a chemical weapon occurred in 1995 on the Tokyo subway system. In this attack, a terrorist group released sarin gas on a subway train, killing 11 people and injuring about 5,500. In addition, according to the Mineta Institute, surface transportation systems were the target of more than 195 terrorist attacks from 1997 through 2000. (See fig. 1.) Passenger and freight rail providers face significant challenges in improving security. Some security challenges are common to passenger and freight rail systems; others are unique to the type of rail system. Common challenges include the funding of security improvements, the interconnectivity of the rail system, and the number of stakeholders involved in rail security. The unique challenges include the openness of mass transit systems and the transport of hazardous materials by freight railroads. A challenge that is common to both passenger and freight rail systems is the funding of security enhancements. Although some security improvements are inexpensive, such as removing trash cans from subway platforms, most require substantial funding. For example, as we reported in December 2002, one transit agency estimated that an intrusion alarm and closed circuit television system for only one of its portals would cost approximately $250,000—an amount equal to at least a quarter of the capital budgets of a majority of the transit agencies we surveyed. The current economic environment makes this a difficult time for private industry or state and local governments to make additional security investments. As we noted in June 2003, the sluggish economy has further weakened the transportation industry’s financial condition by decreasing ridership and revenues. Given the tight budget environment, state and local governments and transportation operators, such as transit agencies, must make difficult trade-offs between security investments and other needs, such as service expansion and equipment upgrades. Further exacerbating the problem of funding security improvements are the additional costs the passenger and freight rail providers incur when the federal government elevates the national threat condition. For example, Amtrak estimates that it spends an additional $500,000 per month for police overtime when the national threat condition is increased. Another common challenge for both passenger and freight rail systems is the interconnectivity within the rail system and between the transportation sector and nearly every other sector of the economy. The passenger and freight rail systems are part of an intermodal transportation system—that is, passengers and freight can use multiple modes of transportation to reach a destination. For example, from its point of origin to its destination, a piece of freight, such as a shipping container, can move from ship to train to truck. The interconnective nature of the transportation system creates several security challenges. First, the effects of events directed at one mode of transportation can ripple throughout the entire system. For example, when the port workers in California, Oregon, and Washington went on strike in 2002, the railroads saw their intermodal traffic decline by almost 30 percent during the first week of the strike, compared with the year before. Second, the interconnecting modes can contaminate each other—that is, if a particular mode experiences a security breach, the breach could affect other modes. An example of this would be if a shipping container that held a weapon of mass destruction arrived at a U.S. port where it was placed on a train. In this case, although the original security breach occurred in the port, the rail or trucking industry would be affected as well. Thus, even if operators within one mode established high levels of security, they could be affected by the security efforts, or lack thereof, in the other modes. Third, intermodal facilities where passenger and freight rail systems connect and interact with other transportation modes—such as ports—are potential targets for attack because of the presence of passengers, freight, employees, and equipment at these facilities. An additional common challenge for both passenger and rail systems is the number of stakeholders involved. Government agencies at the federal, state, and local levels and private companies share responsibility for rail security. For example, there were over 550 freight railroads operating in the United States in 2002. In addition, many passenger rail services, such as Amtrak and commuter rail, operate over tracks owned by freight railroads. For instance, over 95 percent of Amtrak’s 22,000-mile network operates on freight railroad tracks. The number of stakeholders involved in transportation security can lead to communication challenges, duplication, and conflicting guidance. As we have noted in past reports, coordination and consensus-building are critical to successful implementation of security efforts. Transportation stakeholders can have inconsistent goals or interests, which can make consensus-building challenging. For example, from a safety perspective, trains that carry hazardous materials should be required to have placards that identify the contents of a train so that emergency personnel know how best to respond to an incident. However, from a security perspective, identifying placards on vehicles that carry hazardous materials make them a potential target for attack. In addition to the common security challenges that face both passenger and rail systems, there are some challenges that are unique to the type of rail system. In our past reports, we have discussed several of these unique challenges, including the openness of mass transit systems and the size of the freight rail network and the diversity of freight hauled. According to mass transit officials and transit security experts, certain characteristics of mass transit systems make them inherently vulnerable to terrorist attacks and difficult to secure. By design, mass transit systems are open (i.e., have multiple access points and, in some cases, no barriers) so that they can move large numbers of people quickly. In contrast, the aviation system is housed in closed and controlled locations with few entry points. The openness of mass transit systems can leave them vulnerable because transit officials cannot monitor or control who enters or leaves the systems. In addition, other characteristics of some transit systems—high ridership, expensive infrastructure, economic importance, and location (e.g., large metropolitan areas or tourist destinations)—also make them attractive targets because of the potential for mass casualties and economic damage. Moreover, some of these same characteristics make mass transit systems difficult to secure. For example, the number of riders that pass through a mass transit system—especially during peak hours—make some security measures, such as metal detectors, impractical. In addition, the multiple access points along extended routes make the costs of securing each location prohibitive. Further complicating transit security is the need for transit agencies to balance security concerns with accessibility, convenience, and affordability. Because transit riders often could choose another means of transportation, such as a personal automobile, transit agencies must compete for riders. To remain competitive, transit agencies must offer convenient, inexpensive, and quality service. Therefore, security measures that limit accessibility, cause delays, increase fares, or otherwise cause inconvenience could push people away from mass transit and back into their cars. The size and diversity of the freight rail system make it difficult to adequately secure. The freight rail system’s extensive infrastructure crisscrosses the nation and extends beyond our borders to move millions of tons of freight each day (see fig. 2.). There are over 100,000 miles of rail in the United States. The extensiveness of the infrastructure creates an infinite number of targets for terrorists. Protecting freight rail assets from attack is made more difficult because of the tremendous variety of freight hauled by railroads. For example, railroads carry freight as diverse as dry bulk (grain) and hazardous materials. The transport of hazardous materials is of particular concern because serious incidents involving these materials have the potential to cause widespread disruption or injury. In 2001, over 83 million tons of hazardous materials were shipped by rail in the United States across the rail network, which extends through every major city as well as thousands of small communities. (Figure 3 is a photograph of a rail tanker car containing one of the many types of hazardous materials commonly transported by rail.) For our April 2003 report on rail security, we visited a number of local communities and interviewed federal and private sector hazardous materials transportation experts.