A major exercise simulating a terrorist strike on London Underground
is to take place next month, the Government has announced.
The long-awaited drill was expected to test the emergency services
on their reaction to a hypothetical chemical or biological attack
on the Tube, with mass evacuations and decontaminations.
It will be staged at Bank station in the City of London on Sunday,
September 7.
The area around the station is expected to be turned into a "ghost
town" for the exercise, which was first announced by Home Secretary
David Blunkett in March but was postponed due to the Iraq war.
"An exercise will be held at Bank Underground station on Sunday,
September 7 to allow London's emergency and health services to practise
their response to a terrorist attack on the Tube," said a Department
of Transport spokeswoman.
