Airport-style security screening is being considered for Tube and mainline stations across London, it has been revealed.
Earlier plans for individual screening were abandoned because the Tube carries 3.4 million people a day and the Home Office is now looking at technology which would enable mass screening at escalators and ticket barriers.
Officials will next month begin to look at solutions, with a report due next March. The technology would not only detect weapons on people and in their bags, but would also be able to scan wheelchairs and prosthetic limbs.
After the July 7 attacks, the Department for Transport carried out trials for mass screening at five mainline and Tube stations. Members of the public had a positive attitude to screening but favoured sniffer dogs over screening and were unwilling to accept major delays to their journeys.
The current official threat level is “substantial”, which means a terror attack is seen as a strong possibility.
A senior Tube source said: “Previous proposals for screening didn’t work out because we carry too many people. The Tube and the City would not be able to function because we would take too long to get people to destinations. New technology is very different.”
