Commuters and government officials gave hardened responses yesterday to a second round of London subway bombings, saying they are prepared, watchful and unwilling to be intimidated.
“It can happen anywhere. You can’t do anything about it,” said Elbert Neiboer, 21, of the Netherlands, as he rushed through Union Station to catch a train to New York, where officials ordered random bag searches on the city’s subway system.
The explosions came exactly two weeks after the attacks on three Underground trains and a city bus that injured hundreds and killed 56 persons, including the four bombers.
One injury was reported in yesterday’s attack on London’s transit system, which has a daily ridership of about 3 million subway passengers and 6 million bus passengers.
The bombings occurred just past midday in London, or at about 7:40 a.m. EDT.
Metro officials yesterday reported about 401,091 riders as of 3 p.m., roughly 6,500 more than on the previous Thursday.
Metro Transit Police officers at the Metro Center station said morning and noon traffic was normal and steady, with lots of tourists.
“We’re here patrolling every day, and we’re making the system as safe as it can possibly be,” said Sgt. Jennifer Gilchrist, an eight-year veteran with the agency.
The federal government increased the terror-threat level to Code Orange for mass transit systems after the July 7 attacks. The increased security was visible yesterday as orange-vested, customer service workers rode in subway cars and officers with bomb-sniffing dogs made extra sweeps through buses, subway trains and stations.
“We’re still in a heightened alert, as we have been for the past two weeks,” said Metro spokesman Steven Taubenkibel. “Pretty much nothing has changed.”
Still, police officials across the region met in the morning to discuss increasing patrols.
“We’re always on alert here, being in the nation’s capital,” said Officer Kenneth Bryson, a Metropolitan Police Department spokesman.
Police officials from the U.S. Capitol Police, the District, Alexandria and Montgomery County said the changes made after July 7 remain in place and reported no incidents of suspicious behavior.
Arlington Police Department spokesman Matt Martin said the agency increased patrols around Metro stations after July 7 but discontinued them July 15.
However, officers with Metro stations on their beats were instructed yesterday to make additional checks, he said.
Mr. Martin reported no unusual incidents yesterday. He said officers have responded to several reports of suspicious packages over the past couple of weeks, but they turned out to be “non-incidents.”
Metro Transit Police Chief Polly Hanson said officers from the U.S. Capitol Police, the Pentagon Police Department, the District, Alexandria and Arlington, Fairfax, Montgomery and Prince George’s counties helped yesterday with extra patrols. She also said transit officials spent the day in contact with the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force.
Transit police officials could not provide information on whether crime in the subway system has decreased since security was increased after July 7.
Metro has been adding patrols and enhancing equipment since terrorists attacked the train system in Madrid in March 2004, including the addition of $180,000 worth of such specialized equipment as chemical-weapon identifiers, portable X-ray kits, protective police gear and surveillance cameras.
However, Metro officials yesterday reiterated that the system is still vulnerable to terrorists, and that the District should be concerned. An agency spokeswoman said July 7 that officials have identified $143 million in additional security needs, but have yet to receive funding.
Riders yesterday appreciated the extra security and welcomed more.
“It’s disturbing,” said Marion Allston, 65, of Temple Hills. “I don’t like the Metro. Being boxed in, it’s too crowded. And then to have to carry the burden of a [possible] terrorist [attack], it’s too much pressure.”
Mary Cotton, 44, of Annapolis, rode the Metro yesterday with daughter Olivia, 5, for the first time in about two years. “The whole time I’ve been watching everybody who’s got funky backpacks,” she said. “Unfortunately, you’re suspicious of everybody.”
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