US rail checks

Sweeping baggage checks for passengers on the “very open” US rail transit systems are impractical despite the spectre of terrorist threats, a high-level Bush administration official said yesterday.

“I don’t know that we ought to apply the same strategy that we’re using with the airlines,” said Asa Hutchinson, undersecretary of homeland security. “Is it practical to have magnetometers for everyone who gets on a subway? Is it practical to search every bag?”