Federal Security Guards to Patrol Metra Trains
Mark Brown, columnist at the Chicago Sun-Times, had an interesting piece in today’s newspaper. He writes about “More Security Getting Aboard on Metra Trains, Federal TSA Personnel Will Patrol Commuter Lines.”
It is interesting that Metra riders on all 11 lines will soon be seeing federal Transportation Security Administration personnel patrolling their commuter trains.
They’re called VIPR teams (Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response) and pronounced “viper.” They will consist of federal air marshals, transportation security officers, TSA-certified canine teams, surface transportation security inspectors and local law enforcement personnel. They will be visibly uniformed.
As Brown wrote, “this definitely struck me as something Metra riders would want to be forewarned about before they encounter a VIPR team at the train station some morning before they’ve had their first cup of coffee.”
Metra spokesperson Judy Pardonnet reportedly said that the decision to step up security is not in response to any specific threat but is part of a national mass transit effort since the 2004 train bombings in Madrid.
