CHICAGO (CBS) – So how is Chicago preparing for the 9/11 anniversary?

Each day, thousands of people walk through the doors of Union Station for their commute, but on Friday passengers noticed things were quite different, with Sept. 11 around the corner.

A dog that sniffs for explosives stood next to its handler. A Metra spokesperson says commuters will be seeing a greater presence of law enforcement personnel on trains and at stations now. 

“You see dogs and it’s like, oh yeah. It’s Sept. 11 this Sunday,” passenger Alicia Ogierman said.

Metra is also asking riders to be vigilant and report any suspicious activity to station personnel, or police. 

“These announcements I think they are necessary for keeping the passengers aware of their environment, which I think is very essential in these days because I think America is at threat,” commuter Mehdi Mudassir said.

On Thursday, credible but unconfirmed reports of possible terrorist attacks in Washington and New York were made public. 

DePaul University terrorism expert Tom Mockaitis says these threats must be taken seriously, but people cannot let this stop them from living their lives.

“It’s like living with organized crime. It’s there. We can reduce it to a level we live with. We cannot let it become hostage to our own fears,” he told CBS 2’s Suzanne Le Mignot.

He also says another reason for such heightened security right now is because following Osama bin Laden’s death, information was uncovered showing bin Laden wanted a terrorist attack carried out on our around Sept. 11.