Emergency exercise at Wondabyne

RailCorp last week carried out a planned emergency exercise at Wondabyne.

Exercise Wondabyne 07, was held on Thursday, September 27, and was the second of a series of three focussing on emergency response issues in the Wondabyne area.

"The safety of commuters is the top transport priority of the Iemma Government and emergency exercises are vital for our emergency preparations," said Member for Gosford Ms Marie Andrews.

"This next exercise will bring together NSW Police, Ambulance, Fire Brigades, RailCorp and other agencies."

Ms Andrews said the third exercise in this series would be a field exercise in 2008.

RailCorp's general manager for emergency preparedness, Mr Ron Creighton, said exercises such as Exercise Wondabyne were an essential part of the planning RailCorp does for emergency situations.

"This will be a desk top exercise about a hypothetical rail related emergency near Wondabyne Station on the Hawkesbury River," Mr Creighton said.

"The Wondabyne area is a unique, challenging location, with water on one side and the escarpment on the other side of the rail corridor.

"Emergency Management Agencies will plan where and how to access the rail corridor, including the use of Police Marine Area Command vessels on the Hawkesbury."

Ms Andrews said: "Exercises such as this one are all about getting RailCorp and the emergency services working as a team to ensure all agencies are better prepared if something does occur."

Press release, 24 Sep 2007 Marie Andrews, Member for Gosford