Amsterdam holds evacuation drill in metro

14 December 2005

AMSTERDAM — The local authorities in Amsterdam began an evacuation drill at Waterlooplein metro station at 8am on Wednesday morning.

Passengers in a metro train and commuters on the platform were informed of the drill and were asked to leave the station as quickly as possible. The evacuation exercise was scheduled to finish by 8.30am. Normal metro services resumed when the drill ended but with some delays.

Amsterdam’s transport authority GVB has been announcing the drill would take place this week in one of the underground stations, but the location, day and the time were kept secret to add the element of surprise and authenticity to it.

In September, Amsterdam City Council announced that a few of these drills would periodically be conducted on the public transport system to better prepare for the threat of a terrorist attack. Rotterdam has already held a disaster drill in the city’s Coolsingel station.

Meanwhile, a train from Utrecht to Schiphol Airport was halted for two hours in front of the Schiphol Tunnel leading to the airport’s underground station on Wednesday morning.

The driver stopped the train after a police officer on the train reported seeing a “suspicious person” with a suitcase.

The Railway Police detained a passenger a short time later and a bomb disposal team was called in to examine the train carriage in which the man was sitting. He was released later when nothing harmful was found in his bag.

Train services between Schiphol and Amsterdam Zuid WTC (World Trade Centre) station were suspended during the alert. Trains continued to run normally between the airport and Centraal Station in Amsterdam.

Subject: Dutch news