"“While al Qaeda and ISIS and their compatriots have staged high profile attacks and plots targeting aviation in the U.S, their high profile attacks targeting rail tended to be either a long time ago (like Madrid and London), in concert with other targets (like Brussels) or in places people in the US pay less attention to (like Mumbai). This is unfortunate, because plots targeting rail infrastructure in the U.S. (like the Zazi plot) and Canada (like the 2013 Via Rail plot) have been very serious, and the recent suicide bombing attack in the New York City subway tunnel should be a pressing reminder of the threat,” said Brian Nussbaum, an assistant professor at the University of Albany who specializes in Cybersecurity & Terrorism.
“So I think some of it is that rail travel is not a major mode of transportation – as it is in Europe and elsewhere – outside a few major cities with light rail or commuter rail systems and the northeast corridor between DC and Boston,” Nussbaum said. “People are just less familiar with rail travel in many parts of the country, and thus spend less time thinking about it and its security.”"