TRAINS TO BE SEARCHED IN ANTI-TERROR MOVE

BOMB SEARCHES ON BOARD FOR CNY TRAINS SYRACUSE - Federal inspectors will begin looking for bombs in the baggage of train passengers at several upstate New York rail stations starting next month, a Transportation Security Administration official said Wednesday. The first check will take place April 6 at the rail-bus terminal in Syracuse, said Federal Security Director Gary Milano. After that, unannounced inspections will occur periodically in Syracuse, Utica, Rome and eventually Albany, Milano said. The inspections are part of a new nationwide homeland security initiative and a shift after years of focusing on aviation and airport security, Milano said. "There is not a specific threat directed at either the rail system, or at Central New York. It's just high time we started doing this," Milano said. Terrorist attacks in recent years on rail systems in Madrid, London and Mumbai show that train security cannot be ignored, he said. For most train riders, the baggage checks will be similar to those at the airport.