Passenger acceptance of counter‐terrorism security measures in stations

Abstract

Terrorist attacks pose a serious threat to the EU, particularly in public transport (PT) hubs such as railway stations due to their level of accessibility and where the individual passenger security screening methods used in airports are impractical. Consequently, methods of increasing station resilience against terrorist attacks in Europe have been explored as part of the recent SecureStation project. To support this work, PT passengers from across Europe were surveyed to gauge their opinion on current counter-terrorism security measures in stations and the acceptability and perceived effectiveness of potential security enhancements. The results, from a total sample of 489 respondents, provide indications of passenger priorities, their opinions of current station security, the acceptability of different security measures and the degree to which they increase feelings of safety. The results, together with summaries of similar studies, give an overview of passenger acceptance of various counter-terrorism security measures and point to areas for further research.