Metro News Release

For immediate release: May 17, 2004

Metro’s May safety spotlight issue of the month:


Metro and local first responders always stay prepared with Metro’s emergency training facility

Two years ago this week, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (Metro) opened its Emergency Response Training Facility located inside Metro’s Carmen E. Turner Maintenance and Training Facility in Landover, MD. In two years, over 2,600 personnel and 17 local and national first responding agencies have utilized this facility, making it an overwhelming, but important success for all involved.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. It 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 was turned off. The training exercise sometimes delayed track maintenance or other pre-scheduled work on the rails and in tunnels. Since the facility opened, the following first responder agencies have trained at the facility:

  • District of Columbia Fire and EMS Department
  • Fairfax County Fire and Rescue
  • Montgomery County Fire and Rescue
  • Alexandria Fire and Rescue Services
  • Arlington County Fire Department
  • City of Falls Church Fire Department
  • Metropolitan Airports Authority Fire Department
  • Prince George’s County Fire and Rescue Services
Other U.S. government agencies to train at the Emergency Training Facility include:
  • Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Washington Field Office Joint Terrorism Task Force
  • FBI Hostage Rescue Team
  • Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF)
  • Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)
  • Federal Protective Service
  • Pentagon Force Protective Agency
  • Marine Chemical Biological Incident Response Force (CBIRF)
  • Walter Reed Army Hospital Fire Department.
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 Chuck Novick, Metro’s Fire Life Safety Liaison and Emergency Management Coordinator. "This facility offers 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 appears identical to the interior of a real Metro tunnel. Communications from inside the tunnel are connected to a simulated adjacent Operations Control Center room. This allows fire, police, and rescue trainees to perform drills in a realistic environment. "It’s critical for Metro to be prepared and to work with local first responders, especially when it comes to emergency planning," said Mr. Novick. "Not only is it important for Metro to be prepared, but it’s important for our customers to be prepared as well. We always remind our customers to have an emergency plan in place, whether its for your home, how to contact loved ones, or to have an emergency backup travel plan in the event a portion of the Metrorail system is shut down."This year, 750 police and fire personnel have undergone training exercises in the emergency tunnel. By the end of calendar year 2004, Metro hopes to have trained an additional 750 police and fire personnel. "You hope a first responding agency never has to use the skills that were learned in a particular training class. However, if an event should arise, we feel confident that a local responding agency will be able to perform their duties," concluded Mr. Novick.The Emergency Training Facility Tunnel Provides The Following Features:
  • 260 foot tunnel (13,000 square foot facility
  • Two (2) 75 foot rail cars)
  • 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
  • Fire Extinguisher Training Simulator
  • Video tape capabilities
  • Video tape development - Training Videos

News release issued on May 17, 2004.