3 ms·

Apparently quite a few. I take West coast trains semi-frequently and have never had to wait for security. Officials we're in the station once. In fairness, I b

Apparently quite a few. I take West coast trains semi-frequently and have never had to wait for security. Officials we're in the station once. In fairness, I believe there's no indication the TSA will appear anywhere but airports anytime soon.

rootusrootus 9y ago
As I recall, a few years back they tried to push their way into train stations but Amtrak put their foot down and set get out. That's a good call. Trains are on rails and the amount of damage you can really accomplish with one is quite limited. Plus, is it even feasible to reach the engineer's position on the front of a train from inside the passenger cars?
- themagician 9y ago
  I mean, they managed it in Snowpiercer. Just gotta claw your way to the front car.
- Gibbon1 9y ago
  When BART got a connection to SFO the TSA started using that as an excuse to bust people for pot on BART. That lasted like two days.
- Symbiote 9y ago
  On a modern trainset (walk through coaches with power integrated along the train) its usually possible. There's probably a door, so the driver's doors can be used to escape in an emergency. But I don't know about high speed trains. The first and last coaches are often first class, I'm not sure I've seen them on the inside.
  - rootusrootus 9y ago
    That's a good point. What qualifies as modern in my experience is a good old classic Amtrak which is powered by a full size diesel-electric locomotive front & rear. I imagine there are ways to make it to the front, but I imagine they involve catwalks on the side of the locomotive. But, much like I am not a lawyer, I am also not a train engineer. Or even a railfan. So I am probably completely wrong. I do appreciate Amtrak keeping TSA out, in any case.
    - Symbiote 9y ago
      There are still locomotive-at-the-front trains in Europe, and on these I've never noticed being able to walk through to the locomotive from the carriages. I have found the term for the more modern type: "Multiple Unit" [0]. Smaller motors are installed on many axles, the same as a metro train. It seems they're more reliable and cheaper to run (less wear on the track due to a better distribution of weight), but I agree with the noise issue — I prefer it when I travel on a locomotive-hauled train, since the interior is close to silent. A site like [1] has a few train interior (and exterior) photos aimed at foreign tourists in Europe, rather than railfans. [2] will get boring quickly, but shows a European view of modern intercity trains. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_unit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_unit [1] https://www.seat61.com/France.htm https://www.seat61.com/France.htm [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-u1a2WswpI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-u1a2WswpI
- mseebach 9y ago
  You say that like there's a rational security analysis behind TSA's policies in airports. But yeah, planes have a nasty habit of offering to amplify an attack of a certain magnitude by falling out of the sky and killing everyone on board, and potentially quite a few not on board. Trains just doesn't do that. The 7/7 attacks in London (bombs on three trains and a bus) resulted in probably an order of magnitude less loss of life than the same bombs on planes would have.

rootusrootus 9y ago

As I recall, a few years back they tried to push their way into train stations but Amtrak put their foot down and set get out. That's a good call. Trains are on rails and the amount of damage you can really accomplish with one is quite limited. Plus, is it even feasible to reach the engineer's position on the front of a train from inside the passenger cars?

themagician 9y ago
I mean, they managed it in Snowpiercer. Just gotta claw your way to the front car.
Gibbon1 9y ago
When BART got a connection to SFO the TSA started using that as an excuse to bust people for pot on BART. That lasted like two days.
Symbiote 9y ago
On a modern trainset (walk through coaches with power integrated along the train) its usually possible. There's probably a door, so the driver's doors can be used to escape in an emergency. But I don't know about high speed trains. The first and last coaches are often first class, I'm not sure I've seen them on the inside.
- rootusrootus 9y ago
  That's a good point. What qualifies as modern in my experience is a good old classic Amtrak which is powered by a full size diesel-electric locomotive front & rear. I imagine there are ways to make it to the front, but I imagine they involve catwalks on the side of the locomotive. But, much like I am not a lawyer, I am also not a train engineer. Or even a railfan. So I am probably completely wrong. I do appreciate Amtrak keeping TSA out, in any case.
  - Symbiote 9y ago
    There are still locomotive-at-the-front trains in Europe, and on these I've never noticed being able to walk through to the locomotive from the carriages. I have found the term for the more modern type: "Multiple Unit" [0]. Smaller motors are installed on many axles, the same as a metro train. It seems they're more reliable and cheaper to run (less wear on the track due to a better distribution of weight), but I agree with the noise issue — I prefer it when I travel on a locomotive-hauled train, since the interior is close to silent. A site like [1] has a few train interior (and exterior) photos aimed at foreign tourists in Europe, rather than railfans. [2] will get boring quickly, but shows a European view of modern intercity trains. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_unit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_unit [1] https://www.seat61.com/France.htm https://www.seat61.com/France.htm [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-u1a2WswpI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-u1a2WswpI
mseebach 9y ago
You say that like there's a rational security analysis behind TSA's policies in airports. But yeah, planes have a nasty habit of offering to amplify an attack of a certain magnitude by falling out of the sky and killing everyone on board, and potentially quite a few not on board. Trains just doesn't do that. The 7/7 attacks in London (bombs on three trains and a bus) resulted in probably an order of magnitude less loss of life than the same bombs on planes would have.