Is train security possible?

Ayoub El Khazzani, a 26-year old Morocco-born suspected terrorist, was able to brandish several weapons on a Thalys rail coach traveling from Amsterdam to Paris through Belgium, before being overpowered by other passengers.

He boarded the train in Brussels with a semi-automatic Kalashnikov rifle, a pistol, a box-cutter and more than 300 rounds of ammunition, without any baggage or identity papers.

European security and transport chiefs are reconsidering train security following the attack, with baggage scans, identity checks and more armed guards among the measures discussed at an emergency meeting in Paris of interior and transport ministers from nine countries.

The ministers are not planning to call into question the principles of the Schengen zone - Europe's border-free travel - which means any new measures taken are likely to remain modest.

French security officials said there is no way to monitor each passenger without choking the continental train system, which Europeans rely upon heavily. But is it really the case?

Israel: "For us it's usual"

Many countries do impose strict security measures not only in airports, but also in central bus stations, malls, public places, cafés and yes - even trains.

One of these countries is Israel, in which security forces and soldiers carrying weapons can be seen at every street corner. The country faces some serious threats of terror, resulting in a highly strict security policy in public places.

Every central bus station in the country operates airport-like baggage scans and body searches, sometimes with the obligation to present some form of identification. Every entry to a mall, a cinema, or even to some famous cafés in the country requires a bag search and identity check.

Train stations are equipped not only with scanners, but also with armed security guards, who patrol the area, as well as each and every train individually.

"For us this is a usual thing," says Rotem B., who currently works as a security man for Israel Railways - Israel's state-owned rail company. "In fact, I don't understand how it can be any different," he told DW.

"I know that in other countries the situation is perhaps less dangerous than here, but even for the slightest chance that something will happen - why would anyone take the risk?"

However, what Rotem perhaps is unaware of, is that only 48.5 million passengers use Israel's rail service per year, compared to 40 million - per day - in Europe.

More than 7 million people use the German train system every day, with half a million passing through Hamburg's central station alone, so any increase in security measures would naturally result in significantly higher costs and delays.

India and China: Protection forces and scanners

At the moment, the Eurostar trains, connecting London, Brussels and Paris as well as Spain's high-speed network are the only ones in the European railway system to require passport and luggage checks.

Belgium has introduced patrols on trains traveling through its territory following the attack and a few other countries are expected to follow. But these measures are still far from being a declared policy in Europe as a whole.

In an interview with DW's Inside Europe radio show, Dr Hervé Borrion, a terrorism and security specialist at University College London (UCL) acknowledged that some railway stations in China and India already have scanners for passengers and luggage, among other measures.

The Indian Railway Protection Force (RPF) for instance, is a security force entrusted with protecting railway passengers, passenger areas and railway property. In China, large train stations, like Beijing's or Shanghai's, can be quite similar to an airport, and include baggage screening and ID checks.

However, according to Borrion, these stations were built for these purposes from the beginning, while many stations in Europe simply cannot sustain such new equipment without a massive revamping of infrastructure.

Since much of Europe's rail infrastructure is more than 100 years old, critics argue that adding airport-style equipment will dramatically slow down the movement of passengers, creating transport gridlock besides being highly expensive.

Precious time

Another main argument against implementing tight security measures in trains is the likelihood of losing a lot of time queuing in stations, thus overwhelming them with an incredible number of people, who would be standing around and waiting - an even easier target for terrorists.

Borrion claims, however, that time is not necessarily an issue. "Time can always be reduced with technology. If changes will be made tomorrow, than yes, it would create a problem, but with new technology we can probably speed up the process," he says.

"Israel is indeed an example of a country prepared for these kind of threats since it was established," Rotem adds, "but in the end it's a matter of habit, too. Israelis are used to the fact that their belongings are checked everywhere, and that it obviously takes time, but in their opinion this sacrifice serves the greater cause."

A large crowd gathered in one closed area is definitely an easy target, he says, "but when the procedure becomes efficient that rarely happens."

US and Australia: Undercover policemen

Numerous behind-the-scenes and front-line security measures are already in place to ensure passenger security in countries like the United States and Australia.

Their measures include uniformed police officers, special operations units, random passenger and carry-on baggage inspections, undercover policemen, baggage screening and onboard ID checks.

"We must examine whether we can implement a system that allows more systematic checks in airports, in public transport, in a coordinated way," French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said earlier this week.

Focus on intelligence

A source close to Cazeneuve told French news agency AFP that the ministers would discuss the feasibility of carrying out targeted checks on people who, for instance, have come from Turkey, a common entry point to Syria for would-be jihadists, and discuss video surveillance in all high-speed trains, better training for railway staff in emergency situations and armed guards in some cases.

But experts still claim little can realistically be done to guarantee safety on trains. "Airplanes leave from a specific place - you can build a security apparatus around them," said Raffaello Pantucci, a terrorism expert at the Royal United Services Institute in London.

"It's just not possible to do that with trains. You would have to do that at every station from large terminals in Paris to small towns in rural France."

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