More ID, bag checks on Europe’s trains after foiled attack

PARIS — European countries will increase identity checks and baggage controls on trains after American passengers thwarted an attack on a high-speed train from Amsterdam to Paris, France’s interior minister said Saturday.

Bernard Cazeneuve said the reinforced ID and bag checks would be carried out on cross-border trains “everywhere it is necessary.” He spoke after meeting in Paris with top security and transport officials from nine countries and the European Union in the wake of last week’s attack attempt.

At the meeting, officials struggled to find security solutions that protect travelers but don’t threaten the continent’s border-free travel zone or the extensive rail network that is the lifeblood of European transport.

The suspect in last week’s attack had been on the radar of European surveillance, but bought his ticket in cash and showed no ID, before bringing an automatic rifle and a handgun onboard unnoticed. He has been handed preliminary terrorism charges and is in French custody.

The group meeting Saturday pushed for train tickets printed with passengers’ names on them, which is currently allowed but not required. In a statement, they floated the possibility of letting train police consult intel databases and better Europe-wide use of criminal record databases.

Such measures, if implemented, would require close monitoring to ensure that they do not constitute border controls, which are illegal under the rule book governing the passport-free area known as the Schengen zone. They could also raise privacy concerns, which have held up Europe-wide legislation on aviation passenger name records.