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Railroad grade crossings should be eliminated, especially in all built-up suburban areas; crossings that can't be converted should be highly guarded so that a train has time to slowdown/stop.
In Europe many grade crossings are monitored with cameras and trains passing through them can be remotely stopped if need be.
America's public transit/railroads is way, way behind what much of the world has.
In regards to terrorism ... this recent incident again reiterates that railroads are easy pickins ... a few people in a coordinated attack could do enormous damage with just a few SUVs, U-Haul rentals, etc.
I'm going to digress a bit here ... the U.S. govt intends to spend another 80 Billion in Iraq ... for a fraction of that, security of the railroads and numerous other critical infrastructure could be greatly improved; just the other day a little arson fire in New York City put some rail lines out of commission - one for upto a year ... sad when one realizes that the New York City is spending so much on security - yet some homeless person can knock out critical infrastructure with no resistance at all ... so much for all that improved security the New York authorities have been touting.
In Reading, PA there is a grade railroad crossing right in the middle of the city mere feet from a small convention center ... it's a disaster waiting to happen ... and I'm sure many other cities have similar grade crossings - they need to be eliminated; the cost of not doing so will likely be much, much higher in human lives and money ...
Ron
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