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No transport problem for London
17/02/2005 12:34 - (SA)
London - Transport, often seen as the Achilles heel of London's bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games, was now its "jewel in the crown", according to Britain's transport minister.
The capital's ability to ferry around the huge number of athletes and spectators attending a Games was called into question by an initial International Olympic Committee (IOC) report last year which described London's rail system as "often obsolete".
However, on the eve of the second day of the IOC evaluation commission's visit to London here, which will include a brief journey on the Underground, transport minister Tony McNulty said: "I think we undersold ourselves in terms of transport in the candidate file.
"Now we've made sure that transport is no longer the sick man of the bid, it's now in the front seat and the jewel in the crown of London's bid."
London officials set great store by the new high-speed 'Olympic Javelin' service which will run from St Pancras station in the centre of the city to the site of the Olympic Park in Stratford, east London.
Running on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) line, due to be completed in 2007, the Japanese style 'bullet trains' will have a top speed of 225km/h and will take just seven minutes to go from St Pancras to Stratford.
The frustrations of travelling on London's public transport system are often a hot topic of conversation among the city's eight million residents, many of whom are herded together every morning on various rush-hour buses, 'tubes' (as the Underground is known) and trains.
But London 2012 spokesperson Mike Lee said: "The evaluation commission doesn't ask questions about the Northern (Underground) Line on a Monday morning.
"They ask questions about a four week transport plan in August 2012 (when the Games will take place). You have to look at this through international eyes."
The news conference, where London's transport benefits were lauded, started 51 minutes late although Lee stressed that was because of other meeting and lunch over-runs and not any transport difficulties.
Bid transport chief Hugh Sumner said that public demand would drop, not increase during the period of the Games.
"Every day 12 million journeys are made on London's public transport network," Sumner said. "Daily spectator demand during the Games will be around 5% of this level at a time of year when 20% of commuters are on holiday.
"The net result is that London will have an effective 15% spare capacity for the Games."
There would be 309 different stations in the UK from which spectators could travel to the Olympic Park without changing trains.
In total there would be 10 lines running to the venue, transporting 240 000 passengers an hour, with a train arriving every 15 seconds in the Olympic Park.
- AFP
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