Amtrak expands random security sweeps

WASHINGTON — Rail passengers from coast to coast will be subject to random security checks and may have their luggage scanned for explosives beginning this fall, according to Amtrak officials.

Six months after it set up counterterrorism teams to screen passengers at busy East Coast stations, the rail company is expanding its security sweeps across the country with a new team of special agents in California.

"We want to show we're playing defense" against would-be terrorists, says Amtrak security chief Bill Rooney. "Our focus is counterterrorism. We're thinking along the lines of a Madrid or a London." ...