Security Plan

When America came under attack on September 11, 2001, the railroad industry responded swiftly. Working closely with local, state and federal authorities and utilizing their own police forces, railroads increased inspections and patrols, restricted access to key facilities, briefly suspended the movement of freight in the New York area and changed certain operational practices as anti-terrorist measures.

But railroads are vital to the economy, national defense and public health. Some 40 percent of all intercity freight goes by rail, including 67 percent of the coal used by electric utilities to produce power. The chemicals used to purify the nation’s water supplies also move by rail. And railroads provide critical support to the Department of Defense Strategic Rail Corridor Network (STRACNET) which includes more than 30,000 miles of rail line and provides the backbone for the movement of Department of Defense shipments. It was essential that the rail network resume full operations quickly. And it did.Because enhanced security has become a long-term necessity, the Board of Directors of the Association of American Railroads (AAR) — made up of the CEOs of North America’s major freight railroads and Amtrak — has established the mandate to ensure that the railroads would be more secure each day. Using CIA and national intelligence community best practices, five critical action teams — with the active involvement of some 150 railroad industry, security and intelligence personnel — were established to scrutinize different aspects of the railroad system:

• hazardous materials
• operations
• infrastructure
• information technology and communications
• military movements

Their analysis examined and prioritized all railroad assets, vulnerabilities and threats, and then identified countermeasures. Helping the industry was a team of former U.S. military and government security experts from EWA Information and Infrastructure Technologies. Throughout this process, the AAR continued to work with the federal government and solidify links to law enforcement and security agencies.

Using national intelligence community "best practices," the Railroad Security Task Force developed a comprehensive risk analysis and security plan which includes:

• a database of railroad critical assets;
• assessments of railroad vulnerabilities;
• analysis of the terrorism threat;
• calculations of risk;
• identifications of countermeasures to reduce risk;
• definition of alert levels;
• delineation of actions to be taken at each alert levels; and
• functions of the AAR operations center and railroad alert network.

The plan establishes four alert levels and describes a progressive series of actions to thwart terrorist threats to railroad personnel and facilities. These actions are applied in the areas of operations; information technology and communications; and police.

• Level 1: New Normal day-to-day operations
• Level 2: Heightened Security Awareness
• Level 3: A Credible Threat of an attack on the Unites States or the railroad industry
• Level 4: A Confirmed Threat of attack against the railroad industry or actual attack in the United States (implemented up to 72 hours and reevaluated)

Actions taken by the railroads since September 11 include:

• After consulting with federal security agencies, declared "Red Alert" status for 72 hours beginning with the start of U.S. military action in Afghanistan;
• Increased employee security awareness and training to ensure that over 200,000 railroad employees became the eyes and ears of the railroad industry’s security;
• Compared employee records to FBI terrorist lists;
• Created new position of Vice President of Security at the AAR;
• Established a 24/7 AAR operations center to coordinate industry-wide rail freight security actions;
• Increased tracking and inspection of certain hazmat and munitions movements;
• Increased security of railroad physical assets;
• Increased random inspections;
• Conducted spot identification checks;
• Increased coordination with U.S. Department of Defense;
• Increased cybersecurity procedures;
• Implemented encryption technology for selected data communications.

The railroad sector maintains communication links with the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Department of Transportation, the Federal Bureau of Investigations, and state and local law enforcement to enable immediate response.

The railroad security plan is a living document, because the risk assessment process is a continuous one. As conditions warrant, that plan is updated, revised and strengthened to ensure the security of the railroads and their continued service to the nation.

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