May 21, 2004
By MARYCLAIRE DALE
The Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A small electronic device was found in a rail yard last week in Philadelphia, but officials said they found no evidence of any terrorist link.

The device — described by a commuter rail official as a motion detector similar to a garage door opener — has been turned over to the FBI.

No arrests have been made and no extra security precautions have been taken, in part because rail officials already have been on high alert because of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the March 11 train bombing in Spain, which killed 191 people and injured 2,000 others.

"We are at a heightened state of alert. If somebody leaves a briefcase, we call the bomb squad," said Tim Whitaker, a spokesman for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority.

A SEPTA police officer spotted the small device May 13 in a West Philadelphia rail yard where trains are stored. Tracks that carry commuter trains are nearby, but there is no passenger station in the area, Whitaker said.

The discovery of the device had not led to any delays and trains were running on schedule Friday, officials said.

The FBI did not immediately return a telephone message Friday morning.

Meanwhile, Amtrak officials are not commenting on why a pair of its Acela Express high-speed trains were stopped and searched Thursday night.

Both trains were bound to Washington, D.C., from New York.

One was north of Philadelphia when it was stopped. The other was near Baltimore-Washington International Airport.

Amtrak police officers and dogs searched the trains, both of which were delayed 40 minutes.

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