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Roundup: France train shooting triggers concern over public transport security

Xinhua, August 24, 2015 Adjust font size:

France gunman shooting at a Thalys high-speed train linking Amsterdam to Paris, which left three wounded passengers, raised question over the government's ability to secure public transport.

To Socialist Senator Luc Carvouas, passengers on board of each train must be secured in the same way as at airports and during their flights "whatever the cost may be."

"I will ask a parliamentary committee in the Senate to provide real security measures to passengers of SNCF," he tweeted.

Unlike ports and airports, French railway stations are not equipped with metal detectors or baggage scanners, a gap that the state-run railway company has to correct swiftly, according to Bernard Monnet, an expert on terrorism.

"The SNCF must be adapted to these new threats (of terrorist attacks). It must fully review its security device and its offer. This is not a security issue but a strategic issue because it is an economic challenge," Monnet told the weekly magazine L'Express.

Speaking to the news channel BFMTV, Christophe Fargallo, representative of Police union, proposed to "expand the possibility for police officers who are out of service to carry their weapons. It will be a guarantee of security in public transport."

After a young gunmen opened fire against passengers on board a train last Friday, SNCF set a national number for people to inform unusual situation that would be handled by specialized staff trained to evaluate threat and take adequate acts, Prime Minister Manuel Valls announced on Saturday after meeting the company's chief.

Valls also called on prefects to raise vigilance to improve surveillance of stations and their surroundings across the country.

Since Jan. 7 when three Islamist gunmen killed 17 people in three separate attacks in Paris, French government had increased the vigipirat system to the highest level by increasing police patrols in stations and terminals, raising checking of identity and inspection of luggage.

As part of the Sentinel operation, the government poured 7,000 military officers to secure sensitive places, in addition to 3,000 and 1,250 security agents deployed by SNCF and RATP respectively. Endit