Last week, the House passed H.R. 1401, a bill to improve the security of railroads, public transportation, and buses in the United States. H.R. 1401 requires the Homeland Security Department, in consultation with the Transportation Department, to develop a national strategy for securing rail and public transportation systems, and it requires those systems considered to be of greatest risk to assess those risks and develop security plans for approval by the Homeland Security Department. The bill also requires training for all rail, transit and bus employees within one year of departmental approval of training programs, and authorizes $6 billion in grant programs for railroads, public transportation providers and bus operators. It also develops regulations for the rail transport of sensitive materials, and requires operators to assess alternative routes; extends whistleblower protection to employees of the transportation systems, and ensures that our communities’ First Responders have the resources they need to keep these systems safe and secure.

As the Chair of the Transportation Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials, I am very pleased to see this legislation reach the floor. I have been working for years, along with my counterparts on the Railroad subcommittee, to increase attention to rail and transit security. The importance of transit security is obvious: March 11th marked the third anniversary of the train bombings in Madrid, where nearly 200 people were killed and over two thousand were injured. Since that attack, additional bombings have occurred in London and India, killing hundreds more.

Here in the United States, each year more Americans ride on rail and transit systems than they do on planes. Yet, the money we put into its security is a fraction of what we devote to aviation security. Five times more people take trains over planes every day, yet we spend 35 times more on aviation security than on rail and transit security. To me, the current situation is simply not acceptable.

Recently in fact, Rep. DeFazio of Oregon and I held a hearing on rail and transit security, and what we found was quite discouraging. Since 9/11, the Department of Homeland Security has still not issued a strategy to secure our rail and transit infrastructure, nor has the Transportation Security Administration completed a risk assessment of these systems. Because of that, I am very happy to see the Manager’s Amendment requires DHS to work with DOT, so that both agencies can work together to improve our nation’s rail and transit security systems.

While we still lag behind other countries’ efforts, H.R. 1401 will go a long way to protect our nation’s transit and rail passengers, and the surrounding communities.