Metro stations to get baggage scanners

By Ni Yinbin and Dong Hui  |   2009-7-22  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

METRO passengers might have to put their bags and luggage through X-ray scanners before entering stations during next year's World Expo, the Shanghai Metro police said yesterday.

The scanning machines, planned to be installed in Metro stations near the Expo site, in transport hubs and important areas, are to check for inflammable and explosive materials banned from public transport, police said.

"We are planning to introduce security checks similar to those at airports and railway stations," said Liu Hao, deputy director of the Metro police. "But to impose strict checks in fast-paced Metro traffic is hard."

Liu said police will discuss the detailed plan with the Metro operator, Shanghai Shentong Metro Group.

"We beefed up the manpower for security checks during last year's Beijing Olympic Games," Liu said. "But that was only a primary plan."

Currently, police officers and security guards make spot checks on passengers' luggage in Metro hubs, while 30 dogs sniff out dangerous articles, including highly concentrated industrial alcohol and lacquer thinner, police said.

This year, more than 2,000 people have been found carrying dangerous goods and over 7,500 banned goods have been seized.

Meanwhile, 5,000 more cameras will be installed in Metro stations near the Expo zone to better monitor security.

"Monitoring cameras have some blind areas after some turnstiles were moved in stations," said a police official who asked not to be named.

Security checks will also be beefed up in buses, cruise wharfs and school buses, police said.

Police have also launched plans for buses to make the Expo more secure.

During the World Expo period, every bus of the 94 bus lines that go to the Expo sites will have a conductor to not only sell tickets but also do security checks.