Union Station evacuated over reports of suspicious package

Washington’s iconic Union Station was evacuated over a rush-hour bomb threat Wednesday afternoon, though the all-clear was sounded after much less than an hour.

Police began sealing off the Capitol Hill facility just after 5 p.m. because of reports of a suspicious package, the Metropolitan Police told The Hill newspaper.

District of Columbia Fire and EMS also confirmed to TV station WUSA-9 that there was “a bomb threat at Union Station.” According to WRC channel 4, Washington’s NBC affiliate, a suspicious package is in “the Amtrak portion of the station.”

However, DC Fire and EMS quickly established that it was a false alarm, and the official Twitter accounts of local train systems told passengers that an all-clear notice had been given.

Union Station serves as the center of Washington’s railroad system, being a stop on the Metro subway, on Virginia and Maryland’s commuter-rails, and on the nationwide Amtrak system.