Railways to get trial run of airport-style scanners

Plans for airport-style security scanners at railway stations with armed police scrutinising passengers are being drawn up to try to stop terrorist attacks on the rail network, the Guardian has learned.

Ministers are expected to announce a trial of the scheme at London's Paddington station next month. If it is successful, body scanners and x-ray machines could be installed at other main stations.

Senior sources said all long-distance train journeys could be covered by the scheme, which is a response to the attacks in London on July 7 and 21. The July 7 suicide bombers used the rail network to move their devices from Leeds to London.

The trial follows work by the Department for Transport's security arm, Transec, which submitted plans to the secretary of state for transport, Alistair Darling. The pilot scheme at Paddington will only cover the Heathrow Express line, and will allow officials to find out how much disruption it would cause.

A senior source with close knowledge of the scheme told the Guardian: "The assumption at the moment is that it would be impractical. The aim of the scheme is to see the impact of it."

For the trial, those operating the checks would be told to minimise delays. The source said passengers would walk through an arch: "It's quick if we don't find something, if we do find something, you're going to miss your train."

Police would be told to stop the checks or make them less strict if queues got too long: "It may be a random sample are scanned or everybody, depending on the number of scanners available and passenger flow. If suspicions are raised then the search of a person will be very thorough," the source said.

Checks could be made more rigorous if the terrorist threat level, currently at "raised", was increased. Armed police are expected to be present in the area in case a terror suspect is identified. As well as reassuring the public, the screening would make it just that bit harder for terrorists to stage an attack.

If successful, the scheme would first be extended to the Gatwick Express. The next stations to receive the equipment would be London's Kings Cross and Euston, with outlying stations also being considered.

The senior source said:"If it's disruptive and full of false alarms and complications, the trial may end at Paddington. If it goes smoothly you could see it gaining momentum and see more scanners at more stations."

Experts have examined using security scanners for commuter journeys or routes with multiple stops, but most believe it would be impractical. They feel that the public may be prepared to tolerate a short delay for a journey of two hours, but a delay of several minutes for a 15-minute journey would be seen as disproportionately inconvenient.