NJ TRANSIT POLICE TO CONDUCT EMERGENCY RESPONSE DRILL SUNDAY MORNING IN LIGHT RAIL TUNNEL

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May 31, 2012
NJT-12-037

NEWARK, NJ — The NJ TRANSIT Police Department, together with state, local and federal partners, will conduct a training exercise on Sunday, June 3 inside the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail tunnel on the Union City/Weehawken border to test a response from multiple agencies to a simulated train incident.

Also participating in the exercise will be the North Hudson Fire Department; Weehawken and Union City Police departments and Offices of Emergency Management; Hudson County Office of Emergency Management; NJ EMS Taskforce; Weehawken EMS; and the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force.

The exercise will begin at approximately 9 a.m. and take about three hours to complete. During the exercise, Hudson-Bergen Light Rail service will terminate at Port Imperial Station in Weehawken.  Customers will have to board buses for service between Port Imperial, Bergenline Avenue and Tonnelle Avenue stations.  NJ TRANSIT is advising customers to allow extra travel time.

In addition, customers may notice police and emergency personnel in the tunnels, and local residents may see activity in the staging areas outside the tunnels on Port Imperial Boulevard.

Light rail service will resume normal operations at 1 p.m., after the exercise is complete.

About NJ TRANSIT

NJ TRANSIT is the nation's largest statewide public transportation system providing more than 895,000 weekday trips on 260 bus routes, three light rail lines, 12 commuter rail lines and through Access Link paratransit service. It is the second largest transit system in the country with 164 rail stations, 60 light rail stations and more than 19,000 bus stops linking major points in New Jersey, New York and Philadelphia.