PHILADELPHIA – An “electronic motion detector” discovered May 5 in SEPTA’s Powelton Rail Yard was placed there by an employee for personal use, the railroad and the FBI said in a joint statement.
The unidentified employee, who works full time for SEPTA and part-time for a security alarm company, told the FBI he put the device by the tracks to alert him of approaching foot traffic, “presumably his supervisors,” the statement indicates.
“In light of the high degree of attention being devoted to public transportation security, we consider this to be a very serious matter,” SEPTA and the FBI said in the statement.
The device was discovered in a rail car storage yard near 30th Street Station May 5 and a week later it was turned over to the FBI for analysis. The device was located along storage Track No. 11 in Powelton Yard, a considerable distance from operating passenger trains and the 30th Street Station, SEPTA previously said.
The SEPTA Office of Inspector General, pending a formal FBI report, is investigating the incident.
No disciplinary action has been taken against the employee, SEPTA spokesman Richard Maloney told The Associated Press.
PRNewswire and Railfanning.org News Wire Editor Todd DeFeo contributed to this report.
