Another Tenuous "Security" Connection
So: a tractor-trailer truck hit an Amtrak train at a crossing, and Homeland Security is using that as an excuse to argue that passengers on trains should be required to list their names with a government registry first. Actual story headline on the Reno news site: Amtrak train wreck reveals security weakness. And the "weakness" in the story is not "Oh, dear, trains cross roadways and might be hit by trucks"; it's "Oh, no, we don't know the name of every single passenger on the train at all times."
Actual quote from the story: "In the years following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, airline security became increasingly tight, but Amtrak remains unable to even identify who is on its trains at any given moment."
Because heaven forbid the government not know exactly who's in transit at any given moment.
Actual quote from the story: "In the years following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, airline security became increasingly tight, but Amtrak remains unable to even identify who is on its trains at any given moment."
Because heaven forbid the government not know exactly who's in transit at any given moment.
posted by Jennifer Abel at 4:39 PM
4 Comments:
When does the TSA news get better? When will sheeple clue in and protest?
You are already required to show picture ID to board a Amtrak train. I'm not sure what will change.
What, the Amtrak conductor takes cash fares?
Of course not. Amtrak is a government enterprise and issues named tickets to all the passengers. If Amtrak does not know all the names of the passengers then the enterprise needs to be dismantled for gross incompetence.
When I ride Metro North trains into or out of New York City, I always just buy a ticket at the station before boarding -- no ID necessary. The only times I've ever shown ID for train tickets is on those rare occasions when the tickets were either reserved or paid for in advance -- if there's a ticket out there with my name on it, of course they'll want p[roof it's really me before handing it out.
And remember: whether or not I show ID before boarding those trains has absolutely NOTHING to do with "the risk of those trains being hit when the tracks cross a roadway."
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