14 March 2004	Sunday	22 Muharram 1425

NEW YORK, March 13: the aftermath of the Madrid railways bombings, law enforcement officials in New York said on Friday that they were moving to secure passengers trains , particularly in the Northeastern corridor which runs from Boston to Washington DC through New York.

Transportation experts said the Madrid bombings underscored the fact that rail security had lagged woefully behind aviation improvements since the 9/11 attacks. And Democrats in Congress quickly proposed a $500 million commitment for rail security to help narrow the gap.

American security officials said that while they had no specific intelligence about imminent attacks in the United States, Al Qaeda had made clear that it considered commuter train and subway systems to be vulnerable, the New York Times said.

While there were no plans to raise the nation's threat level from its current yellow, or elevated status, federal officials said they began taking steps almost immediately after the Madrid attacks to tighten security at high-risk train stations and rail lines.

US officials said on Friday that they had added law enforcement officers and bomb-detection teams in certain high-risk locations, alerted state and local officials about their concerns over mass transit systems and urged the public to be on guard.

Amtrak, meanwhile, increased its own security patrols and intensified electronic surveillance.

Federal officials were most concerned about subway and train systems in and around New York City, Washington and other major Eastern cities."