Transit police conducted an emergency response drill in Newark Saturday.

First responders and volunteers playing victims converged on the Atlantic Street light rail station for the drill.

The simulation involved a scenario in which a criminal or terrorist placed something on the track that caused a train to derail. It played out as a rush hour crash.

Officials say the drills are vital to prepare first responders in the case of a real event.

"I think it allows us to communicate and work collectively as a team. In the event of a real incident, these are the same people that are going to be working together," says Lt. Ryan Fraser. "So it allows us to communicate and cooperate, our names to faces if something like this ever happened for real."

The train used in the drill was a regular NJ Transit train, which for the purposes of the exercise was  filled with 30 NJ Transit employees simulating people who have been injured. Some dummies played victims as well.

The agency holds this drill four to five times a year with buses and trains.

Newark police, University EMS, Essex County Sheriff OEM, Newark fire and FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force crews all participated in the drill.

There was no service at Atlantic Street and Riverfront Stadium stations for several hours on Saturday until it wrapped up around noon.