The former FBI man now heading up the nation's transportation security says protecting passengers from terrorist threats on trains and subways is going to get just as much attention as airline travel.
Transportation Security Administration chief John Pistole said in an interview with USA Today that some terrorists believe that rail and mass transit systems are better targets than heavily secured airplanes, where passengers are carefully checked before boarding.
"Given the list of threats . . . over the last six years, going on seven years, we know that some terrorist groups see rail and subways as being more vulnerable because there's not the type of screening that you find in aviation," Pistole told the newspaper. "From my perspective, that is an equally important threat area."
Pistole, 54, came to TSA -- an arm the Homeland Security Department -- on July 1 after 26 years at the
FBI, most recently as deputy director.
