NY subway security heightened after India blasts

NEW YORK - New York police heightened security on subways today after train bombings in India killed more than 160 people, while officials unveiled high-tech devices designed to prevent just such attacks.

A police spokesman called the measures -- including increased patrols and more random bag searches -- a precaution.

"There is no specific threat that we've received for New York," Sgt. Kevin Hayes said.

New York has remained on high alert since the September 11 attacks and it ratchets up vigilance after events like the transit bombings in Madrid in 2004 and London a year ago.

The attacks on packed commuter trains and stations in Mumbai today came only days after US authorities said they had thwarted a foreign-based plot to stage a suicide bombing in a rail tunnel in New York later this year.

The FBI said the plot, still in the planning stages, involved an attack in the Port Authority Trans-Hudson (Path) commuter rail system that links Manhattan and New Jersey under the Hudson River.

Security and transportation authorities today demonstrated some of the technology they are testing on the Path trains to see if they can stop would-be bombers.

One system takes images of the front and back of passengers from a distance of three metres. The other requires commuters to step into a transparent booth and hold up their arms while a pair of masts swings around them taking images.

Both are designed to screen passengers in a matter of seconds and would detect explosives or other weapons hidden under clothing.

The Department of Homeland Security and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will report to Congress once they finish testing later this year and may propose a widespread implementation in major cities.

"We think this will give us an extra layer of security," said Samuel Plumeri, security chief for the Port Authority, the bi-state transit and infrastructure agency that runs the metropolitan New York and New Jersey area's major airports and tunnels and also owns the World Trade Centre site.

Asked if such systems could have prevented the London or Madrid bombings, Plumeri said: "It's difficult to say it would have. Perhaps could have."

The Path railway carries an estimated 215,000 people per weekday compared to 4.5 million on New York City's subway.

Commuters interviewed today were generally pleased with security, though several said police could do more.

"Since September 11th, the police have done a good job overall. They do what they can," said Bruno Pinto at Manhattan's Grand Central station. "With so many people, it is very difficult to check everybody and their luggage, it isn't like the airports."

- REUTERS