On June 2010, the European Law Enforcement Organisation, EUROPOL, will publish the TE-SAT report which analyses the terrorist activity in Europe during 2009 and which represents the main guide of responsible institutions of counteracting terrorism across the continent. Several countries have already announced stricter security measures in public transport, given the constant increase in the number of terrorist acts. The terrorist attack at Moscow underground in March has generated new discussions on more efficient terrorism counteracting and imposed a new approach focused more on the education of passengers and financing
anti-terrorism programmes and less on the already traditional measures of fighting against terrorist threats.
Recent studies have shown that terrorist activities are on the increase despite the fact that anti-terrorism budgets are also growing accordingly. Stricter controls, additional security staff and tightening legal framework or punishments for those committing terrorist acts have not had the expected outcome, and they even determined terrorists to resort to more and more clever and violent methods for reaching their purposes.
The new approach revealed during the COUNTERACT conference in Brussels in March 2010, a European project developed by the European Commission with the purpose of identifying the best methods of counteracting terrorism, focuses on reinforcing inter-institutional and inter-sectoral coordination for joining the efforts of all those in charge of public safety, harmonizing the legal framework on terrorist threats and developing cross-border strategies for improving the authorities’ rapid response capacity. Terrorist acts can paralyze the entire economic activity and render
unavailable services of vital importance, their impact being extremely severe and also affecting adjacent countries.
A new approach in transport terrorism is the active implication of passengers in preventing and counteracting terrorist acts for rendering each participant to the transport process aware on the devastating consequences of terrorism. Concrete measures for reaching this target include the education of passengers, the promotion of a civic spirit among community or rendering people familiar with the measures of preventing criminal acts through different means of communication (including anti-terrorism instruction messages included in the first aid guide, posters with methods of preventing and counteracting terrorism etc), according to the declarations of
Geoff Dunmore, President of UITP’s Safety Commission and Safety Manager for London Underground.
Anti-terrorism tax
After the terrorist attack which caused the death of 37 people, Russia imposed new restrictive measures for limiting terrorist threats in public transport. The measures announced by Russian officials include the initiative of RZD President, Vladimir Yakunin, which demands the establishment of a tax to finance anti-terrorism governmental programmes. On March 18, 2010, he submitted to the attention of the Security Commission within the Russian Parliament a report on railway safety. Yakunin has also drawn the attention on dividing the responsibilities of each institution in counteracting terrorist acts. According to federal rules on transport security, the infrastructure manager is 100% responsible. Yakunin said the state’s role in counteracting transport terrorism is not well-established despite the fact that the central authority is exclusively responsible of the citizens’ safety and the critical infrastructure protection.
Technology provides potential answers
Optimizing technologies that can help preventing and counteracting terrorism, video survey and other intelligent transport systems (ITS) are allies in the fight against terrorism. Rolling stock manufacturers joined ITS suppliers by designing trains while constantly bearing in mind the danger of the terrorist threat. The bodies are made of performing, fireproof materials capable of facing an explosion. The insides are thus arranged as to enable the evacuation in the shortest time possible in case of an attack. The compartment affected by an explosion can be easily isolated of the rest of the rooms for a reduced impact on the units. The aeronautic industry provides solutions that are currently adopted at large scale.
According to the EU Terrorism Situation and Trend Report (TE-SAT) issued in 2009, Member States reported a total number of 583 terrorist attacks inside vehicles and means of transport in 2008, 24% more than in 2006. Studies show that terrorist networks cover transport in several countries which makes their counteraction difficult and stresses the importance of eradicating the terrorist threat in railway transport starting at cross-border level.
by Alin Lupulescu
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