While people were enjoying an extra hour of sleep for Daylight saving time, hundreds of volunteers were dressed up in fake blood for a massive disaster simulation at Union Station, early Sunday morning.

The simulation which involved an assailant with an automatic weapon, a fire on the train platform, 150 volunteer actors and multiple casualties was the largest, most complex exercise ever held at the train station.

“We’re going to test all of their skills,” Metrolinx spokesperson Anne Marie Aikins said. “There’s so much that goes on in this building, there’s so many entrance and exit points, if you had to lock it down, that’s not a simple endeavour at all.”

The exercise was coordinated with the City of Toronto, Toronto Fire Services, Toronto Police Services and Paramedics and is intended to test the response to a “multi-casualty event in a large complex environment.”

Raneem Alozzi is a breaking news reporter, working out of the Star's radio room in Toronto. Follow her on Twitter: @r_alozzi

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