Counter-terrorism exercise to temporarily halt Jerusalem’s light rail service

Train service between the Central Bus Station and Ammunition Hill will be disrupted between 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.

By DANIEL K. EISENBUD
Jerusalem Light Rail in snow (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Jerusalem Light Rail in snow
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
An intensive Tuesday morning counterterrorism exercise in the capital will halt light rail service between the Central Bus Station and Ammunition Hill from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., city officials announced Monday.
According to police, the drill will bring together multiple national security units with firefighters, Magen David Adom and ZAKA rescue and recovery personnel, municipal employees and social workers to ensure efficient coordination on the ground in the face of a terrorist attack.
“We’ll be carrying out a terrorist- related exercise involving a number of different types of scenarios at two areas on the light rail, including Mahane Yehuda and Kiryat Yovel, which will temporarily halt public transportation,” said Israel Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld.
Calling the drill one of the largest of its kind in Israel, Rosenfeld said sirens will not be used during the exercise to minimize alarm among residents.
“A wide range of police units will carry out a full-scale exercise, including evacuating people and personnel to nearby hospitals and coordinating movements on the ground level during a scenario such as this,” he said.
Rosenfeld continued: “This type of exercise is significantly important for the different security units and rescue organizations to always be fully prepared to respond to, and deal with, emergency-related scenarios.”
To help compensate for disruptions to light rail service, the Jerusalem Municipality said an alternate number 79 Egged bus will provide parallel transportation near all stops disrupted by the exercise.
For more information on which streets the 79 bus will travel to, the municipality has requested that residents contact the Public Transportation Center at *8787.
Regular light rail service will resume immediately following the drill.


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