Amtrak Begins Random ID Checks on Trains

[Tab]

WASHINGTON - Amtrak conductors have begun random checks of passengers' IDs as a precaution against terrorist attacks. The onboard checks, which started at the beginning of November, are part of a broader program to improve security, Amtrak spokesman Cliff Black said.

"It is a ticket verification program, which is not intended to determine a person's identity, but to make sure the person who's traveling with the ticket is the person whose name is on the ticket," Black said.
...
The passenger railroad has started to ask people to be alert for suspicious activity on trains and at stations.

The security program is the result of a federal directive, issued in May, to protect rail passengers from terrorism. Amtrak has been randomly inspecting trains and baggage with canine teams since then, Black said.
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041117/ap_on_re_us/amtrak_id_checks

[Must_B_Free]

1. Remenescient of screening for juden

however take india for example - there are lots of train bombings there...

[mike_c]

25. screening for juden...

...that was my first thought too. Your papers, please.

This is how it starts. Next will be flagging people on the "watch list."

[Sandpiper]

2. Wouldn't terrorists attack a target where people actually are

Who the hell rides Amtrak?

[demodonkey]

5. Um, me.... nt

[Catchawave]

9. Me too ! n/t

[DemNoir]

11. Guess you dont live on the North East Corridor

Where Amtrak trains are almost always full.

[AndyTiedye]

16. Amtrak Is Way More Pleasant than Flying (Especially Nowadays)

[RPM]

17. Me

And I don't even live in the Northeast corridor - we only get a handful of trains each day :-(

[CAcyclist]

18. Me!

I much prefer the long, slow train to visit my mom than driving. Its much safer and I save wear and tear on my car.You always meet interesting people on the train, too.

[ikojo]

22. I ride it regularly to go visit my

mom and sisters. Not everyone has a car, even in the US.

[ET Awful]

3. Your papers NOW! Show us your papers! No Blauschein?

Then join the line.

[amber dog democrat]

8. orders are orders

don't forget to sew the blue triangle on your coat.

[RC]

4. How long till check points along interstates?

Stop the fear. Stop bu$h's war. Stop bu$h.

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. hmm you missed the ones on I -5 on the way to

LA....

Granted they have been there forever, as part of immigration
policies.

But this will happen soon

[Kellanved]

6. well

I sure was checked every time I have used AmTrak. And thanks to the spelling skills of some Amtrak employees, I had a hard time explaining why my ID said something not quite identical to the name written on the ticket.

And I almost was stranded in Boston, because for the trip TO Boston my normal ID card was sufficient, but in Boston I was told that due to brand-new regulations only the Passport would do (card and passport have identical security features). By pure chance I had forgotten to deposit the passport in a safe and had it with me.

Anyway, it did strike me as odd: a fake US driver's license would have enabled me to use the train without checks; but because I had admitted that I had no permanent immigration status I was treated differently - are they only on the hunt for retarded terrorists ,or what?

[grasswire]

10. so what did they do?

Did they run your ID on a computer? Or just look at it? Or what?

The day will come when dissent is criminalized, I fear. They're getting us used to that day, when approved papers will be your only rescue.

[Kellanved]

14. they did look at it

Demanded to know why my name was spelled differently (I did give the ticket seller the very same card to copy the name from...). Tried to figure out what field has what meaning.
That was it. They were pretty nice about it, no offense to the officers.

[WestMichRad]

12. Well, somebody rides Amtrak, because...

they herded folks like cattle onto the one I took a couple weeks ago. And the security - WHAT SECURITY? was essentially non-existent - I could've taken anything along (and maybe I did, eh!?) There were no questions that even a retarded terrorist could not have handled. Wonder if their canines can sniff out those high-tech explosives from Al-Quqaa?

[Barrett808]

13. Ihre Papiere, bitte!

Here's a nice discussion on how Nazi authorities might have addressed you on the street:

Euere Papieren, Bitte!
http://www.plastic.com/article.html?sid=04/06/22/18181629

[Kellanved]

15. actually I don't see a problem with that

As you probably know it is mandatory to carry ID papers (and to show them on demand) in most of Europe. In the anglophone world it is seen as a great limitation to freedom, but in fact it is not.

In order to circumvent the lack of ID papers, security officials in the US use many cross-linked, central databases. Why use an ID card, when the license plate does just as well?
In Europe such central databases are forbidden, the strong privacy laws stop them.

I feel a lot better, when I have my data on a card with me, knowing that only the city district office has any records about it. In the US, I know that Homeland security has a file with my mugshot and my fingerprints and NO GUARANTEE WHATSOEVER on how they use it or with whom they share it.

[SmokingJacket]

27. If I have done nothing wrong, it's no one's business who I am.

Longstanding American tradition.

Sorry, the ID papers thing gives me the heebie jeebies.

No one's ever demanded anything but my ticket on Amtrak, and that's the way it should remain.

[Malva Zebrina]

19. ten years ago I took an Amtrak journey from Boston to California across

the southwest. It was a delightful, relaxing and enjoyable trip. On one of the stops in the south west,can't remember quite where, the train was boarded by agents with dogs on leashes that went from car to car, stopping most especially in the baggage storage area at the end of the car. I asked them what they were doing and was told that they were "training" the dogs.

[magdalena]

21. I've taken the train x-country many times

via the northern route. At a certain stop in Montana, the border patrol gets on and checks id's, tickets and just generally interrogates. Without fail I am one of the passengers "randomly" selected. I'm sure it has nothing to do with my dark hair and olive complexion. Whatever Amtrak, check away, nothing new to me. :eyes:

[grasswire]

26. wow...

...I went both directions in 1998, and there was none of that. It was winter, though. Maybe that makes a difference.

[magdalena]

28. Well I've taken it in winter several times

and have been checked - I've only been making the trips since 2000 though, maybe this is fairly recent? Either way I put up with it because air travel is just as bad (if not worse), and you just can't beat the camaraderie of the fellow passengers or the breathtaking scenery you experience on the train.

[NYC Liberal]

20. "Be alert of suspicious activity."

Well, gee, thanks for reminding me. I mean, if you hadn't said that, I wouldn't have reported that guy setting his shoe on fire. :eyes:

[mitchum]

23. And so it begins...

[VegasWolf]

24. Your papers please, papers please, authorization to travel please!