Even with the transport improvements that will remain here long after the
Olympics are gone, I still wouldn't want the games here. For two weeks, it
will be impossible to get anywhere in the city, everything will be
incredibly overcrowded and Londoners will be made to feel like foreign
invaders and not the millions of tourists that will come here. Experienced
this first hand in Los Angeles in 1984. London leaders are only going at
this as an ego trip.
"Dave Arquati" wrote in message
...
No-one else appears to have posted about the transport improvements
included in the 2012 Olympics bid, so here we go...

(http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/o...198492/8630136)

Huge transport project planned
By Dick Murray, Evening Standard
16 January 2004

A massively improved transport system for London, with enhanced Tube and
mainline services, today forms the key part of the capital's Olympic bid.

Everything is geared to make it easier to reach the vast Olympic Park at
Stratford with a journey from King's Cross to there taking only six and a
half minutes.

Every day 500,000 people will visit the Games. The bidding team for
London says more than £17billion is being spent on upgrading transport links
before 2012. It says this will allow about 320,000 people an hour to go in
and out of Stratford.

Other stories:

London is bookies' favourite

The venues: where games will be held

It's Britain United

Why we should win: point by point

Huge transport project planned

London aiming for winning RWC spirit

4,000 new rooms under construction

Athletes back London's bid

It says that cross-London travel will be quicker than ever, predicting
journey times from the stadium to Horse Guards Parade of only 24 minutes,
with Lord's being 29 minutes away.

It also claims that athletes and spectators going between Stratford and
Wimbledon will reach their destination in 45 minutes.

There will be faster and more frequent services with 10 trains an hour
between King's Cross and Stratford.

The designated trains, using the Channel Tunnel high-speed rail link
(CTRL), will whisk visitors from central London to the Games at 100mph.

Stratford will be only two hours away from northern Europe as a result
of the Chunnel link. A spokesman for the Strategic Rail Authority said: "We
are going ahead with the new trains."

The trains will be used for domestic services between Ashford and St
Pancras and will be the fastest ever commuter trains in Britain.

More than £250 million is being spent upgrading the London Underground
Jubilee line.

A new signalling system, to be completed by 2009, will mean trains run
20 per cent faster and nearly twice as frequently as they do now.

Jubilee line spokesman George Richardson said the new signalling would
mean a "significantly more reliable service".

The Northern line will undergo a similar £250 million refurbishment and
the Central line is to undergo a £900 million improvement package.

Improvements planned for the Docklands Light Railway include:

# £18million development of the DLR at Stratford to be opened in 2006.

# £115 million extension to City Airport opening in 2005.

# £150million extension to Woolwich in 2008.

# £130 million programme to run three-car, instead of two-car, trains
between Lewisham and Bank by 2009.

Transport Secretary Alistair Darling, is under pressure to approve the
£1 billion East London line extension. This would mean new cross-London
mainline rail services between Clapham Junction and West Croydon and
Highbury & Islington.

It would connect with existing Silverlink services on the North London
line, which serves Stratford.

The SRA, which is in charge of the project, is finalising plans now and
expects to deliver them to Mr Darling in two weeks.

Silverlink services will increase from four three-carriage trains an
hour to 10 six-car trains. Stratford station will double its capacity to
80,000 passengers an hour.

Existing suburban services from Liverpool Street station to Stratford
will double to 18 trains an hour.

Improvements must be made or London's transport system would not be able
to cope.

An internal report prepared for Bob Kiley, London's Transport
Commissioner, warns that without the East London line extension, the Jubilee
line "would grind to a halt during the Olympics".

The report says the only alternative "would be to run large volumes of
buses and coaches". But this would "not be feasible or attractive to users".


I'm not sure about some of their facts or figures (this is from the
Evening Standard) but it certainly makes for interesting reading...

--
Dave Arquati
Imperial College, SW7