Metro to test emergency response

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Metro to test emergency response


Monday, March 22, 2010, 2:58pm EDT | Modified: Monday, March 22, 2010, 3:01pm

Metro will simulate explosions between the Rosslyn and Foggy Bottom Metrorail stations and in the RFK Stadium parking lot March 28 and 29 as part of a an emergency response test funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the transit authority said Monday.

Money for the exercise is coming from a $1.2 million urban security grant secured by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments Fire Chiefs. The two explosions will involve safety officials from each jurisdiction in the region as well as the FBI and the National Capital Area American Red Cross.

The Metro explosion on Sunday, March 28 will take place after midnight on a rail car in a tunnel and is supposed to represent an explosion that injures hundreds and kills several riders. Arlington and Fairfax counties, Alexandria, D.C. and the FBI will respond to that explosion.

Blue Line trains will share one track between Foggy Bottom and Arlington Cemetery, and Orange Line trains will share one track between Foggy Bottom and Court House. The stations will remain open until 3 p.m., but riders will likely experience delays and see emergency crews and volunteer “victims,” according to Metro.

The March 29 test will take place at 10 a.m. and include a Metrobus explosion as well as other explosives in a garage and bomb threats on other buses. That exercise will involve the Metro Transit Police Department, D.C. emergency crews and the FBI.

These are the second and third emergency response drills on the Metro system. The first was a Feb. 24 test response to a shooting at the Friendship Heights Metrorail station.

http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/s ... ily14.html