Thameslink Rail fails security test after staff miss fake bomb planted on busy train

Security test: The fake bomb was planted on a busy Thameslink train
Tadie88/Flickr
Chloe Chaplain4 January 2017

A rail operator failed a security test after a fake bomb was planted on a busy train by undercover investigators.

The dummy explosive was planted on a busy Thameslink train - operated by GTR - as part of an anti-terror test.

But train crew failed to raise the alarm about the suspicious bag, despite it being in a public place where staff were operating.

In a November memo leaked to The Times, Tony Holland, the crime and security manager of GTR wrote: “Last week transport security inspectors from the Department for Transport (DfT) carried out a covert test on one of our trains.

Southern Rail: The news comes ahead of more planned strikes faced by the operator next week
Jeremy Selwyn

“The test involved leaving an unattended bag on a train, which contained a suspicious item.

“Disappointingly, the bag was not found despite it being positioned in a public area of the train, and railway personnel seen to walk past the location.”

More strikes: Southern commuters have faced continuous misery
Jeremy Selwyn

The walk-out is part of an on-going dispute between Southern and train drivers over the introduction of driver-only trains.

January strikes - what's in store

8 January (8pm) –9 January (8pm): RMT and TSSA set to stage 24-hour strike by 4,000 Tube station and ticket staff in dispute over job losses. 

9 January –14 January: Six day strike affecting all 2,284 of Southern Rail’s daily services over driver-only-operated trains. The Gatwick Express will only operate between Victoria and Gatwick and with trains every 30 minutes instead of every 15.

A spokesman for GTR said: “Our modernisation means there will be more people working on our trains, not fewer, and they’ll be able to give better customer service as well as looking for suspicious bags.

“It’s only while the unions carry on with this entirely unwarranted industrial action that we have been forced, on occasion, to run a train with only a driver, which is better than cancelling the service.

“All railway staff are acutely aware of the increased security threat and we pass the overwhelming majority of DfT’s routine tests and investigate any that we fail.”

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