Sen. Lieberman Holds a Hearing on Rail and Transit Security

TSA also provides timely, relevant intelligence and security information to industry officials and state and local partners, and we are working with our partners to develop a unified comprehensive intelligence and security information-sharing platform for that mode.

In closing, I would like to stress again that collaboration is critical for the success of mass transit and passenger rail security operations, noting that no one single agency can do it all. TSA will continue to collaborate with law enforcement, industry, state, local and tribal officials, first responders and federal partners to foster regional security coordination and enhanced deterrence for response capabilities.

With that, Chairman Lieberman, Ranking Member Collins, I pause for questions and other statements. Thank you.

LIEBERMAN: Thanks very much for that opening statement. We'll next go to Peter Boynton -- I'm really delighted that you could be here today -- commissioner of the relatively new Connecticut -- combination -- Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security.

And obviously, we look forward to hearing from you, uniquely, about the state and local perspective on securing mass transit, particularly in our state, which, as I said in my opening statement, has such heavy -- heavy rail traffic.

Thanks for being here, Commissioner. We welcome your statement now.

BOYNTON: Thank you, Chairman Lieberman, Ranking Member Collins, Senator Paul. Appreciate the invitation here today.

I'm here to offer a state perspective, as you said, Chairman. I also come with some other background. I was the TSA federal security director for a couple of years at Bradley Airport in Connecticut -- second largest airport in New England -- and was also the Coast Guard captain of the port in New Haven, Connecticut. So I hope that doesn't mean that I can't hold a job but...

LIEBERMAN: No, it also really reveals to everyone that there's a heavy Coast Guard tilt on this panel.

BOYNTON: Yes, sir. I'm afraid you broken our cover.

(LAUGHTER)

I'd like to being by thanking the terrific partnership that we have in the state of Connecticut, and it's an example of what I think you and Ranking Member Collins already indicated -- there's a lot of work already done and achieved.

And this includes MTA and Amtrak police that work with us in Connecticut, TSA in Connecticut, the Coast Guard, Connecticut State Police, Connecticut DOT -- all the first responders who are there on that rail line every single day. DHS has done a terrific amount of work to support the Intelligence Fusion Center in Connecticut, a state-run entity that we really rely on DHS to support. And, of course, all the public who participate in our See Something, Say Something campaign that we rolled out last summer.

Connecticut does have a mass transit rail system, but also has a number of other mass transit forms. We have two ferries that go to Long Island. They're two of the 14 largest passenger auto ferries in the country. They're the only two that are privately operated.

We have a number of bus systems throughout the state. We have a number of rail systems -- the Northeast Rail Corridor, a rail corridor from New Haven up through Springfield.

But the one I'd like to focus on is Metro-North, the New Haven line. This system carries 127,000 passengers every day, 289 trains every day, and even so, it is not among the largest. But what I think is very notable about that Metro-North New Haven line is its connection with New York City. It is part of the much larger New York City metropolitan system. And every one of those Connecticut riders go right to the heart of New York City -- Grand Central Station -- from New Haven and other points on the line.

In 2010, this was 37 million passenger trips from Connecticut into New York City.

My point here is that the interconnected nature of mass transit means that the security of the New York City system is dependent in part on the security of the Connecticut-based part of the transit system, and that's not unique to Connecticut. We see that with communities that surround urban areas with transit links all around the country.