TSA agents swiping down bags before getting on the Acela today...

[justinslot]

First time I've ever had that happen to me on Amtrak or the Acela. Is that normal? I'm on an earlier train than the one I usually take (2:55, usually the Capitol is so late I leave at 4 or 5.) The TSA guy said it was SOP but, dude, I've never seen you guys here before.

EDIT: This was leaving from Washington, by the way. Just to be clear...I mean I said the Capitol and the Acela but not DC explicitly.

 

[jis]

The randomness is SOP too.

 

[John Bredin]

I've seen bag-swabbing being done at Chicago Union Station once or twice, but I can't recall if it was by TSA or Amtrak Police. Yes, the randomness is a feature, not a bug.

 

[Anderson]

Randomness may be a feature, but the TSA is a bug. I've seen something similar done at Chicago before, but that's the only station where security (other than a dog) has done more than festoon the room with their presence on a regular basis, a few "incidents" (the Savannah one comes to mind) notwithstanding.

 

[neroden]

These are the explosives residue swabs? They seem pretty reasonable, except that it turns out there's a lot of false positives from farmers, which makes them not work. :-(

 

[chakk]

Anything containing a lot of organic nitrogen compounds can trigger a response, so farmers who've been working in their fields can set off the swab analysis machine.

 

[amamba]

They do this all.the.time now in PVD. It is amtrak police, though. I have never seen any TSA agents in PVD.

 

[the_traveler]

I've only encountered this once - at the MKA (airport) stop. TSA was "checking" this on all bags, but I was just taking a point run up to MKE and then back south to CHI. As soon as the southbound train to CHI arrived at MKA, the TSA agents packed up and left! For the next 15 minutes until the northbound train arrived, we were the only ones waiting! If any other passengers came, they would not have been "checked". What a joke!

 

[Mr Constitution]

..........and who have they caught so far?

 

[Bob Dylan]

Good thing the TSA isn't operating in Iowa, they'd have thousands of False Positives!( Security Theater is our Duty! Making you willing to put up with this BS and cough up the Billions it costs is our Mission!)

 

[conductor oak]

Yes, while out here on the left coast we have passengers stabbing each other...ayay.

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2014/11/12/stockton-amtrak-train-stalled-after-passenger-involved-stabbing/

 

[Bob Dylan]

Wow! Several of us were on the Stockton Trains during the Gathering and I even spent the day looking around the town which I found interesting.

Guess the name "California's Detroit" may be true!

 

[MikefromCrete]

The swiping of bags was being done in Chicago recently at CTA stations (I'm not sure if it was the TSA or Chicago police doing it). If you refused to have your bag swiped, you were denied entry to the station. Of course, as many pointed out, a terrorist could notice the the police activity and walk (or take a bus) to the next station and then board a train. A few years ago, I was in Las Vegas and took a van tour to Hoover Dam. This was before the new bypass bridge and police were conducting random searches of cars and trucks before crossing the dam. Our tour driver thought it was a really good security measure, but I questioned it, saying a random search policy would allow a bomber to escape detection and bomb the dam. The driver looked at me as if I was a bomb-carrying terrorist myself. Of course, the TSA has never captured any potential terrorist to my knowledge.