From Decatur Police Lt. Jennifer Ross…

MARTA will be conducting an overnight training exercise this Saturday night, November 5, 2016 at the Decatur station.  Residents may hear some unusual noises and notice police, fire and EMS personnel in and around the station during the training.

And here’s MARTA’s release…

The MARTA Police Department will create a simulated full-scale training exercise (Operation Deep Impact) on Saturday, Nov. 5 (after revenue service) until the early morning of Sunday, Nov. 6 at the Sandy Springs and Decatur MARTA stations.

These annual drills are designed to evaluate emergency response capabilities in the event of an actual threat to the system.

• WHAT: Full Scale Police Training Exercise
• WHEN: Saturday, Nov. 5 at 11:30 p.m. through Sunday, Nov. 6 at 3 a.m.
• WHERE: Sandy Springs and Decatur MARTA stations

MARTA will be single-tracking at the Decatur Station from 11:30 p.m., with rail service ending at midnight. Bus service will continue at the Decatur bus loop for the entire evening. A bus bridge will start between East Lake and Avondale from 11:30 p.m. until end of revenue service to accommodate for the closed rail lines at Decatur.

Regular service will not be interrupted at the Sandy Springs Station. Customers will be guided by MARTA personnel who will be posted near the platform entrances since portions of the parking deck will be closed for the exercise.

This training exercise provides the opportunity for MPD, MARTA staff and other emergency response agencies to address potential incidents, such as terrorist attacks, pandemics or natural disasters, in a real-life setting.

The Federal Transit Authority and the Department of Homeland Security require that transit agencies of MARTA’s size conduct these exercises to assess plans and response capabilities.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia