By ED JOHNSON
Associated Press Writer
LONDON- Two terrorist attacks in two weeks on London’s subway and bus system prompted questions Thursday about securing the vast transport network that carries 9 million people a day.
A team of sniffer dogs was brought in after the July 7 bombings to carry out spot checks for explosives in the subways, which are patrolled by some 1,200 officers.
With fear spreading to other capitals, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Thursday that authorities would begin conducting random searches of packages and backpacks carried by people entering the subway system.
Transport for London, which runs the British capital’s bus and transport network, has rejected such measures. Spokesman Steve Taylor said it would be impractical to check bags or install airport-style metal detectors and X-ray machines in a subway system that carries 3 million passengers a day and a bus system that carries 6 million daily.
“We are running a massive transport infrastructure,” he told The Associated Press. “Would people accept an additional 30 to 40 minutes on their journey every morning and afternoon? It would bring the network to a standstill.”
Taylor said some 1,200 officers from the British Transport Police patrol the subway system, known as the Tube. A further 700 officers from London’s Metropolitan Police travel on the bus network.
Some commuters, still shocked by the July 7 carnage, said it may be time for tighter security to protect Londoners.
“I would rather be safe. Metal detectors are a good deterrent, so I would give up part of my day,” said Kate Marven as she ducked into a subway station.
Others disagreed. “You cannot treat it like an airport,” said Karen Bollan from east London. “There are just too many people to back it up like that. Riding the Tube is a danger you take, living in a major capital city. Chances are, it will be relatively safe.”
Patrick Mercer, homeland security spokesman for the main opposition Conservative Party, spoke 18 months ago about the dangers of a terrorist attack on the Tube. He called for safety instructions to be posted in subway cars and suggested a system of colored arrows in subway tunnels - green to guide people out and red to stay on the Tube if the lines remained electrified. The measures were not adopted.
“It seems that my predictions were pretty well spot on,” Mercer told the AP. “I have no doubt that we can expect further attacks and I hope that we can learn the lessons quickly.”
In the wake of the July 7 bombings, 28 specially trained dogs are patrolling the Tube network in an effort to sniff out explosives. Although dogs had been used on the train that links London to Heathrow airport and at select stations during the 1970s Irish Republican Army bombings, they had never been deployed across the system.
The dogs are stationed at the ticket turnstiles and also roam the trains, but experts question the effectiveness of so few dogs for a system that covers 520 square miles.
“It is like a totem pole placed on the village green to ward off evil spirits,” said Bill Durodie, a senior lecturer at the U.K. Defense Academy told the AP.
He said increased security measures were “not only impracticable, it is not going to solve the problem.”
“Most people realize that determined individuals will be able to get through whatever technological barriers put in their place,” Durodie said.
Security measures are similarly light on subway systems across Europe. The relatively small subway system in Amsterdam is policed with closed-circuit cameras and occasional dog patrols; security has not been stepped up since July 7. In Berlin, some stations have video surveillance, but there are no metal detectors or sniffer dogs.
Czech police, however, have increased security on Prague’s three-line subway, with officers patrolling the network.
In Canada, the government held a teleconference with municipal transit authorities across the country Thursday and local transit officials were advised to exercise increased vigilance on subways, buses and trains.
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