Terror on the TGV? The Terrorist Threat to France's High Speed Train Network

This paper considers this post-9/11 reality in France in three parts. Firstly, the existing passenger and luggage screening processes at both French airports and French train stations will be explained, compared and contrasted. From this it will be clear that the latter lacks both the attention and rigour of the former. Secondly, the specific weak points in the screening processes associated with the French TGV rail network will be assessed and the opportunities for terrorist infiltration that result will be explored. Thirdly, the paper will identify the three factors most responsible for the failure to implement a passenger and luggage screening strategy on the TGV network: the imagined risk, the cost of implementation and the resultant inconvenience to passengers. Applying examples from inside France, wider Europe and North America, each of these factors will be critiqued and rejected as adequate reasons for the lack of screening procedures. In concluding the paper, it will be argued that the continuing failure to screen passengers and luggage travelling on the French TGV network represents a significant hole in the French counter-terrorist strategy and one that should be addressed by policy makers with urgency