Amtrak Northeast Corridor Problems
Federal officials said Amtrak trains and stations will have an enhanced security presence this Labor Day holiday travel period, including Newark Penn Station along the national railroad's critical Northeast Corridor.
(Larry Higgs | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)
NEWARK -- Amtrak riders can expect beefed up security on trains and at stations over the Labor Day weekend, officials said
New York and Newark Penn stations are among Amtrak locations in the region where the Transportation Security Administration's VIPR teams may be seen patrolling over the holiday, Lisa Farbstein, a TSA spokeswoman, said.
VIPR, or Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response, teams go beyond the TSA's more common function of screening airline passengers, by venturing out into ground transportation facilities to look for and deter potential threats.
RELATED: N.J. State Police stepping up patrols over Labor Day weekend
Federal officials issued a recommendation urging local police departments and transit agencies to bolster security during the extended holiday travel period of Sept. 3-14, to create a kind of domestic security "surge."
The agency said the bolstered security was not in response to any specific threat. But it noted that the extended holiday travel period includes the 14th anniversary of 9/11
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