Metro News Release
For immediate release: May 12, 2003
Metro’s Emergency Training Facility celebrates first tear in Service
Facility Is The First Of Its Kind in the U.S. Available 24-Hours-A-Day for the Exclusive Purpose of Emergency Training
Last year, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (Metro) unveiled its one-of-a-kind Emergency Response Training Facility located inside Metro’s Carmen E. Turner Maintenance and Training Facility in Landover, Md. One year, and 750 trained emergency responders later, the response to the facility has been overwhelmingly positive.
The emergency response training tunnel was built to provide a realistic tunnel environment for fire, police, and emergency rescue services to train and hone their response and rescue skills. The facility offers a controlled (and safer) environment in which emergency response teams train. Previously, most drills and exercises were held inside Metrorail facilities during nonrevenue hours. They typically occurred in the middle of the night when power to the electrified third rail must be turned off, and the exercise sometimes delayed track maintenance or other pre-scheduled work on the rails and in tunnels.
The tunnel, a stand-alone facility, is available 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week for local jurisdictions and other emergency responders to use for mock fire and rescue exercises, terrorism and disaster drills, and other simulations involving Metrorail trains and tunnels. " Metro was the first transit agency in the United States to construct a safety training tunnel designed exclusively for all emergency responders," said Fred Goodine, Assistant General Manager, System Safety and Risk Protection. " This facility provides fire, police and rescue personnel in the region the ability to coordinate fire and training exercises." The 260-foot tunnel, built above an existing rail spur inside the Carmen E. Turner Maintenance facility, features two old Metrorail cars positioned to resemble a wreck, as well as a simulated electrified third rail, cabling, and lighting that will appear identical to the interior of a real Metro tunnel. Communications from inside the tunnel is connected to a simulated adjacent Operations Control Center room. This allows fire, police, and rescue trainees to perform drills in a realistic environment.
" We are thankful that Metro created a 24-hour dedicated training facility for local fire, emergency, and police personnel to train in a safe and controlled atmosphere," said Adrian Thompson, Fire Chief for the District of Columbia. " It is always important to be prepared in the event of an emergency situation. Hopefully, we will never have to rely on these exercises in a real situation, but in the event something occurs in the Metro system, the District of Columbia Fire Department will be prepared." In its first year of service, Metro has conducted training exercises for 750 personnel from various fire departments and emergency responders, including police and federal agency personnel.
This year, Metro has conducted training for 486 emergency response personnel. By the end of June, the District of Columbia Fire Department and the Arlington County Fire Department will have completed the training program.
" Metro is viewed as a national security asset, and a leader in the role of transporting the federal workforce in the metropolitan area," said Metro’s Chief Executive Officer Richard A. White. " This facility demonstrates that regional cooperation and training can maximize resources and serve as a prototype for other transit properties across the nation."
The total cost of constructing the training tunnel was $700,000. The Emergency Training Facility Tunnel Provides The Following Features: 260 foot tunnel (13,000 square foot facility), Two (2) 75 foot rail cars (one damaged), Classrooms - white boards - power point - VCR’s 30 person capacity , Mock 3rd rail power source and running rails, Dry standpipe system :Turnout switch - operational, Lighting (emergency, standard and flood), Camera’s and monitors, Control Room for monitoring, control and debriefing, Theatrical capabilities - simulated smoke, flames, lights, heat, Bus simulators, Buses, Fire Extinguisher Training Simulator, Video tape capabilities, Video tape development.
News release issued on May 12, 2003.