Union Minister of State for Railways R Velu told Parliament recently  that the railway security systems were being streamlined in sensitive railway stations across the country. Among the 185 railway stations which are categorised as sensitive include Bangalore City, Mysore and Yeshwantpur. The steps include: increasing the number of trained dogs, install explosive detection devices in sensitive railway divisions of the country. Strict access control is integral to the security review. Also closed circuit television and smart video cameras have been installed at sensitive stations as the July 7 London blasts,  established  the utility of such equipment  to tackle terrorism. The Indian Railways are 150 years old and not particularly geared to cope with terrorist attacks which persistently plague the country in recent times.

Chinks in railway security systems were exposed earlier in February after terrorists bombed the highly protected  Samjhauta Express which runs between India and Pakistan. Earlier bomb blasts in Mumbai’s suburban trains again underlined weaknesses in railway security. The Indian Railways is a victim of terrorism in the Northeastern region owing to ULFA activities. The bulk of the Railway Protection Special Force personnel, which is a highly trained and better armed body of men, therefore operate in these areas. Lately the increasing level of Naxalite threats to trains running in Orissa, Bihar and Chattisgarh is another serious source of worry for railway security managers.

Considering railway trains are vulnerable to terrorist attacks what can be done to make them more secure? Evidently it is not possible to implement similar security systems adopted at airports or for airline security management. All the same the proposed security measures are bound to have a greater deterrent effect on potential and hardened criminals who will be averse to crime with heightened security consciousness among railway security personnel; besides their increased presence on trains/platforms. The Indian Railways has taken the first step to conduct a security audit and figure out loopholes that need to be plugged using both technology and human effort. Now the next and more important step for them would be to institutionalise these systems and sustain them in future.