Railroads and security

摘要

Security is the new buzzword in the world, and it's making things a bit difficult for us in the railroad industry. So many things have to be done in the name of security that it sometimes seems as if we all will have to move into old fallout shelters left over from the 1950s and wait for doomsday to come upon us.rnDon't get me wrong. Like everyone else after the tragic events of 9/11/01, I realize that the world's a different place now. We have to be more watchful as an industry and as individuals. But does that have to mean we'll have to move all hazardous commodities over circuitous routes to avoid major population centers? I don't think so, but some people do, and they're pressuring elected officials to enact laws to force railroads to do iustrnthat, That action may not increase security very much, if at all, but it gives some people the feeling that they're doing something and this action, they think, doesn't affect them directly. It's always easy to call for action when somebody else's ox is being gored.