Passenger Train Terror Plot Stopped

[rickycourtney]

Story is breaking right now...

CBC News is reporting that Canadian police have charged 2 people in connection with plot to carry out attack on passenger train between Toronto and New York.

http://bit.ly/ZEm5ok

 

[FriskyFL]

Oh boy...here comes TSA security theatre to a train near you. :-(

 

[Caesar La Rock]

Oh boy...here comes TSA security theatre to a train near you. :-(

I'm going ahead of myself on this, but didn't Amtrak fire the TSA not too long ago? I remembered hearing about that a couple years ago.

 

[PRR 60]

Oh boy...here comes TSA security theatre to a train near you. :-(

I'm going ahead of myself on this, but didn't Amtrak fire the TSA not too long ago? I remembered hearing about that a couple years ago.

No. TSA, working with Amtrak Police, is present at many larger Amtrak stations.

 

[TimePeace]

NY Times bulletin says it was a Via Rail train that was to be bombed:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/23/world/americas/2-arrested-in-plot-to-attack-passenger-train-canada-says.html?hp

 

[daveyb99]

I would LOVE to see TSA standing at all those unmanned stations across the country. THAT would be funny, especially the ones that are arrive or depart in the middle of the night ... hahhahaaaa

Honestly, AMTRAK is a big target .... I hate to predict, but only a matter of time before something in the middle of no-where comes up.

 

[leemell]

I would LOVE to see TSA standing at all those unmanned stations across the country. THAT would be funny, especially the ones that are arrive or depart in the middle of the night ... hahhahaaaa
Honestly, AMTRAK is a big target .... I hate to predict, but only a matter of time before something in the middle of no-where comes up.

Too late, someone (never apprehended) pulled the spikes on the tracks near Gila Bend for the Sunset Limited in 1995 that caused a major derailment with 100 injured and i killed.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Lots of News Stories out now about the "Terror Plot" on a Train between Toronto and New York which would have to be the Maple Leaf, a joint VIA/Amtrak Train that runs between NYP and TWO Daily! The picture that Yahoo is using on their Story shows a Viewliner Sleeper on the Amtrak Train which we all know Doesnt run on this Route! Canada seems to Quietly do a Bang Up Job of Security @ their Transportation and Public Facilities without putting on TSA/HLS Level Security Theater like our "Protectors" do here! Hopefully these Idiots they caught (who are NOT Canadian Citizens) will serve a Hard Time Sentence of Many, Many Years in a Very Cold and Tough Max Security Prison!

 

[zephyr17]

Well, the picture NBC News is using is a Via Renaissance car, which doen't run on the Maple Leaf, either.

Now they'll go after railfan photographers again...

 

[afigg]

NY Times bulletin says it was a Via Rail train that was to be bombed:

Other news reports state that the train that was to be derailed runs between NYC and Toronto which means that it was the Amtrak and Via jointly operated Maple Leaf. I expect it will take days for the press, if they ever do, to get it correct that the Maple Leaf is both an Amtrak and Via train.
The TSA inspection at the station on the US side would not have done any good if the plan was to derail the train from the outside at the tracks on the Canadian side.

The bright side of this news is that the Maple Leaf is going to get a lot of free publicity. Not necessarily positive publicity, true, but a lot of people will learn that the train service exists.

 

[pennyk]

MSNBC is reporting that it was an Amtrak train in Canada and the suspects have been watched by Canadian authorities for over a year. It was also reported that there is no connection to the Boston Marathon bombing.

 

[Guest]

NY Times bulletin says it was a Via Rail train that was to be bombed:

True. However, it could have easily been Amtrak; too easily. h34r:

 

[JoeBas]

NY Times bulletin says it was a Via Rail train that was to be bombed:

True. However, it could have easily been Amtrak; too easily. h34r:

It could have just as easily been your church, your mall, your supermarket, your highway bridge, etc...

But hey, let's all be scared, right?

 

[MattW]

Now they'll go after railfan photographers again...

That was my first thought too :angry:

 

[haolerider]

NY Times bulletin says it was a Via Rail train that was to be bombed:

True. However, it could have easily been Amtrak; too easily. h34r:

As stated above, the Maple Leaf is a jointly operated train. VIA operates it from Toronto to the border and there is a complete change of staff to operate into NYC. Liquor and food is off loaded and the US crew loads Amtrak supplies. It is an interesting ride I have taken many times after meeting with VIA in their offices.

 

[zephyr17]

Now the NBC News pic is LRC equipment hauled by a P42. Caption says pulling into Dorval. Still haven't gotten the Maple Leaf..

 

[SarahZ]

Wow. The comments on CBC are so much easier to digest than the comments on NBC.

CBC: 10th-grade (or above) vocabulary, commas, logical thought, respectful disagreement

NBC: HURRRRR DERP OBAMA LIBTARDS GUNZ LOL

'Grats to the RCMP, FBI, and any other people involved in their capture. It has to feel great to work on this for a year and capture the suspects before anything happens. From the articles I've read, it appears it was still in the planning stages and they weren't "caught in the act", so to speak.

 

[OlympianHiawatha]

Sabotage against passenger trains is not new - http://history.howstuffworks.com/american-history/city-of-san-francisco-wreck.htm

The case is still open to this very day. And during WWII extra precaution was taken to guard Horsehsoe Curve and the secret basements of Grand Central where power generation and communications equipment was kept against possible sabotage.

 

[Guest]

It could have just as easily been your church, your mall, your supermarket, your highway bridge, etc...

I wasn't aware that the TSA and the Amtrak Police were responsible for protecting all those too, but hay, I'll add such in since you say so.

 

[Trogdor]

It could have just as easily been your church, your mall, your supermarket, your highway bridge, etc...

I wasn't aware that the TSA and the Amtrak Police were responsible for protecting all those too, but hay, I'll add such in since you say so.

What does that have to do with anything?

The point is that there are so many potential "targets" that are difficult/impossible to protect. This target just so happened to be railroad-related.

 

[ScottC4746]

NY Times bulletin says it was a Via Rail train that was to be bombed:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/23/world/americas/2-arrested-in-plot-to-attack-passenger-train-canada-says.html?hp

Yet Diane Sawyer on ABC tonight said Amtrak.

 

[chakk]

Do we believe that any of the national newscasters thoroughly vet their information?

 

[jamesontheroad]

The BBC's Security Correspondent Frank Gardner has reported (<a href='https://twitter.com/frankrgardner/status/326468952232431616'>https://twitter.com/frankrgardner/status/326468952232431616</a>) that it was the Maple Leaf that was being targeted.<br /><br />

<br /><br />

It's extremely odd (ie convenient for the ruling Conservative party) that these arrests should come on the day that the Canadian parliament was debating whether to renew post-9/11 anti terrorism measures (such as arrest without warrant), especially given there appears to have been only a general threat.

Source: <a href='http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2013/04/22/terrorism_threat_is_real_in_canada_public_safety_minister_vic_toews.html#'>http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2013/04/22/terrorism_threat_is_real_in_canada_public_safety_minister_vic_toews.html#</a>

 

[rickycourtney]

One thing to understand... the RCMP operates differently than law enforcement agencies here in the US. They are a lot less forthcoming when it comes to giving information to the public.

From what I know (via several news outlets and sources)... the train that was to be targeted was Maple Leaf run jointly by Amtrak and VIA. The suspects planned to derail the train near Niagara Falls on the canadian side (presumably near the Whirlpool Rapids Bridge.) It would have been Amtrak's equipment, but since the train would be on the candian side of the border it would be operated by a VIA crew (and therefore a VIA train.)

Hope that clears up some confusion. But that all being said... the RCMP won't confirm which train route specifically was to be targeted.

CTV has a good write-up here: http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/rcmp-alleged-terror-plot-in-canada-backed-by-al-qaeda-2-arrested-1.1248858

 

[cirdan]

Now they'll go after railfan photographers again...

That was my first thought too :angry:

Yes, and anybody who gathers information about trains. That would put most people on this forum in the suspicious category.