WASHINGTON (AP) – President-elect Joe Biden will no longer take an Amtrak train to Washington for his inauguration due to security concerns, a person who was briefed on the decision told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
The president-elect’s decision reflects growing concerns about potential threats to the Capitol and in the US ahead of Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20.
Security in Washington has been stepped up considerably in preparation for the inauguration after the violent uprising last week in the Capitol by supporters of outgoing President Donald Trump, and the FBI warned over the weekend plans for armed protests in all 50 state capitals and in Washington, DC, in the days leading up to the event.
The person briefed on Biden’s decision spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal issues. The news was first reported by CNN.
The move to forgo the 90-minute train ride from his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, to Washington probably wasn’t easy for the president-elect. Biden’s preference for train riding during his 36-year career in the Senate was such a central part of his public personality that he drove Amtrak home on his last day as vice president, and he used a train journey through Ohio and Pennsylvania during the presidential campaign as part of an effort to address workers.
Biden became known for riding the train from his earliest days in the Senate when he returned home almost every night to raise his young sons after his wife and baby daughter died in a car accident in 1972. His hug of Amtrak – and the friends he regularly made among the train conductors and staff – was featured in a short film that aired at the Democratic National Convention last August.
The train ride is not the only safety-related development surrounding the inauguration.
On Wednesday, Biden received a briefing from FBI officials, the Secret Service and his national security team about the potential for additional violence in the coming days.
“In the week since the attack on Congress by a gang including domestic terrorists and violent extremists, the nation has learned more and more about the threat to our democracy and the potential for additional violence in the coming days, both in the National Capital. Region and in cities across the country, ”said a statement by the Biden transition team. “This is a challenge that the President-elect and his team take incredibly seriously.”
Throughout Washington, but especially around the Capitol, the National Mall, and some nearby federal buildings, security has increased significantly, with priceless walls and metal gates erected, streets closed, and a new contingent of National Guard troops camped at the Capitol.