TSA to use old San Diego MTS trolleys for security training

Two of the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System's (MTS) original light-rail vehicles will be used for the U.S. Transportation Security Administration's explosives detection canine training program.

The vehicles were cut in half and shipped to the Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. The TSA will use the vehicles as part of a 10-week training program for bomb-sniffing dogs, MTS officials said in a press release.

The dogs will be trained to detect explosive devices at transit facilities and on board all types of vehicles. The MTS cars will provide the dogs a real-life environment for training, agency officials said.

Since the cars began service in 1981, they've each carried about 9 million passengers. The cars were built in Germany by Siemens, which now has a manufacturing plant in Sacramento, Calif., and continues to supply the agency with new light-rail vehicles.