(erielack) If you thought NJT restrictions on photography are tough, watch o ut...

["Tupaczewski, Paul R (Paul)" <paultup_@_lucent.com>]

Just announced by the Dept. of Homeland Security:

WASHINGTON - The Homeland Security Department on Thursday was raising the terror alert level for subway and rail systems - but not airlines - in the wake of the terrorist attacks in London, a U.S. official told NBC News. 
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the alert level for trains and subways would be raised to orange, which signifies a high risk of terrorist attack, from yellow, the mid-point on the five-point color-coded system. 
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff was expected to announce the increase in the five-tier terror alert system at an 11:45 ET news conference. 
The terrorism alert level was last raised in August last year to orange for the financial services sector in New York City, northern New Jersey and Washington D.C., based on intelligence that al Qaeda was targeting specific buildings. It was lowered back to yellow on Nov. 10, 2004. 
Word of the increase came as authorities around the country ratcheted up security on public transportation systems and urged extra vigilance.
The moves came after President Bush ordered the U.S. Homeland Security Department to contact authorities in major cities and urge them to be "extra vigilant" after the attack in London.
Bush calls for alert to go out 
"I instructed them to be in touch with local and state officials about the facts of what took place here in London," Bush told reporters from Gleneagles, Scotland, where he was attending the Group of Eight summit. 
In New York, Gov. George Pataki said authorities were relying on the public as well as the stepped-up security.
"We are asking people to be alert, to report any suspicious activity or packages, backpacks, boxes to police," he said in a telephone interview.
About 4.5 million passengers use New York City subways daily, and officials increased police coverage of the subways, buses and transit stations throughout the city.
Commuters, while admitting to some nervousness, didn't let news of the explosions alter their travel.
Commuter follows routine
"I've always been aware that the subway could be a target but it hasn't affected the way I live my life. I got on this morning and rode downtown just like I always do," said Mary Ellen Kelly, who lives in midtown Manhattan.
Amtrak officials increased security at all its stations around the country, and posted police officers on board all trains.
"These security measures are just taken as a precaution," company spokeswoman Tracy Connell said. "We will continue the heightened security threat level until we have a better understanding of what happened in London."
In San Francisco, Bay Area Rapid Transit System officials closed all station bathrooms, while Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney took the unprecedented step of raising the security level on Boston's transit system.
"The governor is alarmed by what happened in London," Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom said. There was no specific intelligence about any threat to the city or the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority system, he said.
'You kind of hold your breath'
"You kind of hold your breath until rush hour is over because of the timing of the one in London," said Paul Dullea, 37, of Millis, Mass., while an announcement telling people to report suspicious activity played repeatedly over a Boston subway station intercom.
In Atlanta, all MARTA commuter rail police officers and dogs were deployed. Los Angeles police officers were told they couldn't leave their shifts without permission and extra sheriff's deputies were sent to patrol Metrolink commuter stations and trains, officials said.
A police helicopter hovered over Penn Station in Newark, N.J., Thursday morning while authorities blocked off the lane in front of the station that taxis and buses use. Uniformed officers scurried to each platform and in and out of shops inside the station.
"I'm shaken up," said Towyonia Johnson of Jersey City, who noticed more officers than usual riding the PATH train to her computer operator job in Newark. "If it can happen there, it can happen here. I just want to make it home safe."
Despite the added precautions taken by local authorities, Homeland Security spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said that there were no immediate plans to raise the nation's threat level.
"We do not have any intelligence indicating this type of attack is planned in the United States," Roehrkasse said.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.




This article is also an eye-opener:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7069390/


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