[kiba]

All these security for air travel but not for a train which is also full of lot of people felt bizarre.

[donaltroddyn]

Well, the impetus for enhanced airport security was first the spate of hijackings in the late '60s to early '80s, and later 9/11.

While you can hijack a train, you can't fly it to a friendly country, and you can't fly it into a building, so it's a very different threat model.

[hanoz]

Locking cockpit doors has already solved both those problems.

[Uberphallus]

Germanwings would like to have a word with you.

[JamesBarney]

Are you referring to this?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanwings_Flight_9525

[Uberphallus]

Yeah, the first officer locked himself in then started descent into a mountain.

[vonzeppelin]

But how does a suicidal pilot apply to airport security?

[ant6n]

..more like a homicidal pilot.

[samatman]

To be frank about it, trains are a much softer target, since they can be derailed with an explosion on the track, or even a bit of welding.

Blowing up an airplane requires either bringing an explosive on board, or the use of a rocket-propelled grenade or full-on missile. Quite aside from the risks of hijacking mentioned in a sibling comment.

[NLips]

However, blowing up a bomb on a cruising plane will probably kill everyone. Blowing up a bomb on a cruising train will probably not - many people will be far from the blast and derailing trains are more survivable than planes breaking up at altitude.

[dijit]

You can't hijack a train and take hostages to some other country; This was endemic in the 80s.

You also can't hijack a train and drive it into a building.

[anticensor]

You can divert it remotely by dispatch if the route is fully signalled. Trains cannot travel except what rails direct them to.

[amelius]

But is this still true for airplanes, given the switch to hardened cockpit doors?

[dijit]

It is still true; Holding a train full of passengers hostage is foolish because there's no possibility that a train driver could disengage the rails.

Holding a plane full of passengers hostage is less foolish because the pilots/flight attendants can be bribed and bartered- it's not a technical impossibility to do certain actions, so there is more of an incentive.

[Uberphallus]

Then you get Germanwings incidents

[amelius]

Which can't happen on trains and buses?

[endymi0n]

Buses, maybe. Trains: Nope. Doors are locked from the inside, usually aren't accessible while moving and even someone would get inside, well, you can't get off the tracks. You'll get a red signal and a forced braking shortly afterwards. It's really, REALLY hard (by design) to wreck something on purpose with a modern high speed train.

[namibj]

This is why electric trains are so nice: you can shut them off from the ground.

[Uberphallus]

And in buses you can't really lock yourself out as a driver.

[slazaro]

Which wasn't a hostage situation or a hijacking to get elsewhere, and it has nothing to do with the passenger security theater which is what this thread is about...

[phyzome]

Shhhh, don't say it too loudly! The TSA is already trying to get their greasy fingers into train travel. :-(