Alex Hern writes about the transport chaos set to descend on London for the Olympics, and details Ken Livingstone's calls to the mayor for better preparation.
Ken Livingstone today released a statement damning Boris Johnson’s lack of clarity over the Olympic transport plans. Livingstone argued that Johnson should:
1. Provide better information provided about the Olympic Route Network plans and their impact on Londoners and businesses.
2. Provide details in the public domain about who will have access to the dedicated Olympic lanes.
3. Prioritise road safety. Projections are that over 60 pedestrian crossings will be closed by TfL for months on some of the busiest roads in London – this is unacceptable.
4. Let taxis use the Olympic road network.
5. Ensure that dedicated Olympic lane restrictions should be in place for the shortest possible time.
This call for change follows then-transport secretary Phillip Hammond in June instructing Londoners to “work from home” during the Olympics:
Hammond said everyone has to change their routines during the Olympic Games to avoid stress points on the network.
He said all employers, including the Government, had to look at staff changing their working hours or to work from home during the Olympics.
“We need to get people to think about how they plan their journeys,” Hammond said. “Certainly, the government will be allowing significant numbers of people to work from home during the Games to ease the burden on the transport system.”
TfL’s advice makes for scary reading; when the best case scenario involves instructions like the following, it is clear that “transport chaos” is no mere hyperbole:
London Bridge station will be very busy and should be avoided, including interchange, at peak times. These include 7–10am, 12noon–2pm, 4–7pm and 10pm–midnight. National Rail passengers heading into central London should use Cannon Street and Charing Cross instead.
Bank station will be very busy. If you are not attending a Games event at ExCeL or Greenwich, this station should be avoided at peak times. There will be additional trains running to and from Tower Gateway on most afternoons and evenings to assist avoiding Bank.
Friday 3 August – First day of events at the Olympic Stadium
Friday 3 August will be twice as busy as previous days in the first week of the Olympic Games and is predicted to be the busiest day of the Games. In general, the second week of the Olympic Games will be much busier than the first. People are advised to work from home or take leave on Friday 3 August.
The official advice involves avoiding two of the most important interchanges in London for most of the working day for two weeks, and avoiding the entire network on the first day of events. If this is what Boris’ planning looks like, I almost wish he’d stayed at home.
See also:
• A lesson from Delhi for Boris – Navin Shah AM, October 4th 2011
• New poll highlights Boris’s failures as Mayor of London – Shelly Asquith, May 26th 2011
• Boris’s transport boasts are pure piffle – Rob Jenks, March 31st 2011
• Shawcross: Londoners “paying more for less” under Boris – Shamik Das, March 29th 2011
• Boris Johnson’s pricing plans under the microscope – Will Straw, October 16th 2009
To reach hundreds of thousands of new readers and to make the biggest impact we can in the next general election, we need to grow our donor base substantially.
That's why in 2024, we are seeking to generate 150 additional regular donors to support Left Foot Forward's work.
We still need another 124 people to donate to hit the target. You can help. Donate today.
23 Responses to “Boris fiddles as London prepares for transport chaos”
Rob the crip
The London Olympics I suspect I will not be watching to much and listening to people who bought £30,000 worth of tickets to get the ticket they wanted, £30,000 is four years worth of benefits for me, yes I know get a job, sadly I cannot
Chief Boriswatcher
Boris News: Boris fiddles as London prepares for transport chaos – Left Foot Forward http://t.co/mEGwkZKz
Pucci D
RT @leftfootfwd: Read about bumbling Boris' Olympic transport failures: http://t.co/vd3bNGpv #getagripboris
PTRC
RT @leftfootfwd: Boris fiddles as London http://t.co/S8id7NT3
Joel Kos'
I’m a former bus and Underground planner, plus 11 years in a railway control room. Games transport flow-modelling is just intelligent guessing based on ticket-buyers’ postcodes (as if they’ll be travelling from there…).
The quoted seating capacity on trains at Stratford Regional station omits (a) half the seats are going the wrong way, (b) many will be occupied by ‘real’ passengers [including the less mobile], (c) the number of seats quoted is still impossible. How will ‘spare trains’ on the main line be called up? Where does the Central Line get its trains for the enhanced Games operations? [er, by replacing the outer ends with buses?] There is no unified transport/Games risk assessment, and the final transport operations command apparently rests with non-transport officials.
I’m hibernating while the Games are on; the ODA is on record in August 2010 that London hadn’t coped that summer without the Games crowds and armies of workers present… There will be MORE workers in London in 2012, to work in hotels and shops separating the punters from their money; the buses won’t be running properly because of the Games Lanes – how will people get to/from work – a ‘barista’ can’t work from home.