History shows that terrorists are not likely to come into this country by hopping trains from Canada. That is not to say they don’t like trains.  As I learned at nbcnews.com, “Surface transportation really has become the terrorists’ killing fields.  They may not ride trains, but they would love to blow up passenger trains full of people.”

A few years ago, two suspects were arrested in Canada and charged with conspiring to blow up a trestle on the Canadian side of the border as the Maple Leaf, the daily Amtrak connection between Toronto and New York, passed over it. And, experts warn of future train sabotage. When US forces killed Bin Laden, intelligence seized from his compound showed al Qaeda considered making strikes on U.S. trains on the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, U.S. officials said. And other groups have successfully carried out railway attacks.

Because of these threats, after the Madrid railway bombing, Amtrak formed Prevention and Response teams that conduct random baggage and security checks at train, subway, and bus stations as well as at truck weighing stations.

Most experts would like more railroad security, considering the resources that go into the matter. Four agencies are partly responsible: Transportation Security Administration, Federal Railroad Administration, Federal Transit Administration, and the Research and Special Programs Administration.  The Transportation Security Administration was criticized last year by the Government Accountability Office, an investigative arm of Congress, for failing to carry out analysis of railroad security information.

I am not the first person to wonder if so many agencies, working separate from one another, creates gaps in security. If each agency thinks that the others have already thoroughly covered a particular vulnerability, it is possible that none of them will actually put in the time and work necessary to fully secure that vulnerability.

Railroads are a ticking time bomb. However, in the United States, only one person has died from an extremist rail attack in recent decades, when Amtrak’s Sunset Limited was derailed in Arizona in 1995. Responsibility was claimed by a group calling itself Sons of the Gestapo. The case is still unsolved.

So what do we do with all this information? The answer is not to avoid trains, planes, buses. In late July, I will take the Amtrak to visit friends in Sacramento, CA. I can’t wait to observe train security procedures during the trip. After doing so much online research, it is time for a field trip. I plan to relax and enjoy the trip; however, I may not be so nonchalant if I were leaving from Chicago or LA. Still, life must go on even though the violence and tragedies have brought unspeakable grief.