STATE DIVISION OF HOMELAND SECURITY AND EMERGENCY SERVICES ANNOUNCES MULTI-AGENCY RAIL SAFETY EXERCISE
Operation NY SECURE: Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, State Police, and Local Law Enforcement Agencies Join Amtrak and MTA Police to Secure the Empire Corridor from Albany to New York
The New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services today announced that an "Operation NY S.E.C.U.R.E." (Securing the Empire Corridor by Unifying Regional Efforts) exercise will take place at train stations on Amtrak’s Empire Line, as well as at the William F. Walsh Regional Transportation Center in Syracuse, beginning at 6 a.m. on April 17. Now in their second year, these multi-agency exercises have been extremely successful at promoting cooperation between law enforcement agencies on rail lines and improving their capabilities to respond to actual emergencies. Participating agencies include the State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, State Police, Metropolitan Transit Authority, Amtrak Police, and several local law enforcement agencies.
Officers will perform counter terrorism and incident response exercises at passenger train stations and along the right-of-way in Amtrak's Empire Corridor. This coordinated effort involves activities such as heightened platform patrols, increased security presence onboard trains, explosives detection canine sweeps, and counter-surveillance measures. The goal of this operation is to improve coordination and response between the railroad police agencies that are responsible for each station, and the state and local law enforcement agencies that will be responding to emergencies at those locations.
Operation NY Secure will take place on Amtrak's Empire Line from the Albany/Rensselaer station to the Yonkers Station at the following passenger train stations:
- Yonkers
- Tarrytown
- Croton Harmon
- Peekskill
- Poughkeepsie
- New Hamburg
- Beacon
- Rhinecliff
- Hudson
- Albany/Rensselaer