Electronic device found in Philadelphia rail yard; officials say no terrorist link

Friday, May 21st 2004, 9:46 am

By: News On 6

PHILADELPHIA (AP) _ An electronic motion detection device was found in a rail yard last week, raising suspicions, but officials said they found no evidence of any terrorist link.

The device _ described by a commuter rail official as a motion detector similar to a garage door opener _ was turned over to the FBI.

No arrests have been made and no extra security precautions have been taken, in part because rail officials were already on high alert because of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the March 11 train bombing in Spain that killed 191 people.

``If somebody leaves a briefcase, we call the bomb squad,'' said Jim Whitaker, a spokesman for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority.

A SEPTA police officer spotted the small device May 13 in a west Philadelphia rail yard where trains are stored. Tracks that carry commuter trains are nearby, but there is no passenger station in the area, Whitaker said.

The discovery of the device caused no delays, and trains were running on schedule Friday, the transportation authority said.

Although the device is sold in stores, its presence in a rail yard made FBI agents somewhat suspicious, FBI spokeswoman Jerri Williams said. She said the device was being tested for fingerprints, but otherwise declined to elaborate.

``We know that it's a commercial motion detector,'' Williams said Friday. ``We're attempting to find out what the device is, why it was there and who put it there.''

Meanwhile, Amtrak stopped and searched three trains Thursday night, including a pair of Acela Express high-speed trains traveling from New York to Washington, D.C.

Amtrak officials declined to say why the trains were stopped. Nothing was found.

One Acela train was north of Philadelphia when it was stopped; the other was near Baltimore-Washington International Airport. Amtrak police officers and dogs searched the trains, delaying each for 40 minutes. Details about the third train were not immediately available.

In early April, the FBI and Homeland Security Department warned that intelligence indicated that terrorists might attempt to strike rail or bus commuter lines in major U.S. cities this summer.

The FBI also has issued a number of other bulletins to law enforcement officials nationwide about tactics terrorists might employ. The most recent, sent Thursday, urges vigilance against possible suicide bombers but said the FBI has no credible evidence that any suicide bombing is imminent.