Emergency exercise at Wondabyne

More than 60 local emergency service personnel participated in a joint emergency response exercise with RailCorp at Wondabyne on Saturday, April 12.

The exercise brought together relevant representatives from the Gosford Local Emergency Management Committee including the NSW police, ambulance, fire brigade and other agencies.

RailCorp media manager Mr Paul Rea said the purpose of the emergency response exercise was to test accessibility and communication in a remote location such as Wondabyne.

"The exercise was not a response to a real emergency situation," Mr Rea said.

"Rather it was an emergency simulation to test the capacity of local emergency services."

According to Mr Rea there were no trains or passengers involved in the emergency simulation exercise.

"The exercise was a great way to test the accessibility of emergency services to such a remote location and if communication systems were able to cope," Mr Rea said.

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

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

"The exercise will enable RailCorp and the emergency services to work as a team to gain a greater understanding of who can do what and how we can all be better prepared if an emergency occurs."

Last year RailCorp participated in 13 emergency exercises, including one at Wondabyne.

Press release, April 9 2008 RailCorp Clare Graham, 11 April 2008 Interviewee: Paul Rea, RailCorp