From RPA (formerly NARP) 12-15-17
On Monday, a suicide attacker attempted to bomb the New York City subway near Times Square and the Port Authority Bus Terminal. Fortunately, the homemade bomb by Akayed Ullah failed to fully detonate, and only resulted in serious harm to himself, with minor injuries to five others and mass confusion as commuters tried to escape the explosion in the subway.
“We are truly fortunate that the attack in New York was a failure, and that no bystanders were seriously hurt,” said RPA President Jim Mathews. “Passengers should remain alert of their surroundings when traveling, but know that passenger rail is still a safe mode of transportation.”
Following the attack, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo directed the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) to double its police presence at all facilities. Ullah’s attack is the third one in New York City since September 2016, and the second in two months. The most recent attack occurred when eight people were killed in a truck attack along a Hudson River bike path.
To help prevent future terrorist threats in rail stations and other public transit hubs, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has been testing a new screening technology with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority to detect suicide vests. The explosive screening system is known as a standoff explosive detection unit, and the TSA has been working with five passenger rail and transit agencies to test the security equipment since 2004. Agencies TSA has partnered with include: Amtrak, NJ Transit, WMATA in D.C., BART in San Francisco, the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department and the LA Metro.