MTA Metro-North Railroad today announced that the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) will host a rescue exercise involving the United States Marines’ Chemical Biological Incident Response Force at Grand Central Terminal overnight.

 

Metro-North train service will not be effected by the drill, which is scheduled to begin at 11 p.m. and end at 5 a.m. tomorrow, although entrances to Grand Central from Vanderbilt Avenue may close earlier than usual. Grand Central's Biltmore Room will be closed to the public at 8 p.m. to accommodate the exercise.

 

Through the exercise, about 150 Marines will conduct training on how to remove chemical or biological attack victims from a train, out to the platform out of Grand Central to the street level where they can proceed with mock decontamination. Twenty-five actors and ten mannequins will serve as victims for the drill. Some drill actors may be made-up with mock injuries.

 

A staging area for the tactical drill will be established along Vanderbilt Avenue and 43rd Street for emergency response personnel, and the MTA Police Department will close off selected blocks for exercise staging.