NY Travelers Undaunted by Al Qaeda's Alleged 9/11 Anniversary Train Plot

A day after it was revealed that al-Qaeda had allegedly planned attacks on railways in the U.S., most New Yorkers, commuters and visitors to the city said they did not feel worried.

"There are thousands of people walking here," John Musto said moments after he arrived at Penn Station from Philadelphia on Friday to celebrate his granddaughter's sixth birthday this weekend. "And it's only been a while [since bin Laden’s death]."

Material taken from bin Laden’s residence in Abbottabad, Pakistan, after he was killed five days ago, contained handwritten notes dating back to February 2010 in which a plan to tamper with an unspecified U.S. rail track so that a train would fall off the track was outlined, according to the Associated Press. The Department of Homeland Security issued an intelligence bulletin to local authorities on Thursday.

"We have no information of any imminent terrorist threat to the U.S. rail sector, but wanted to make our partners aware of the alleged plotting," Matthew Chandler, spokesman for the DHS, said in a statement. "We want to stress that this alleged al-Qaida plotting is based on initial reporting, which is often misleading or inaccurate and subject to change."

Cliff Cole, spokesman for Amtrak, said they received DHS's advisory, but declined to specify if any additional precautionary measures have been put in place.

"Amtrak employees remain at a heightened state of vigilance," he said. "We will employ appropriate countermeasures as and when necessary."

Leah Schanke, 45, who travels daily from Long Island to New York City for work, said this was just another in a slew of threats New Yorkers were well equipped to deal with.
 
"In the 70s, we were scared of getting mugged," she said. "In the 80s, it was the cold war. Now it's terrorism. If you can't take it, move farther away."