London Olympic Leaders Face Transport Questions

(ATR) London Olympics organizers admit the influx of Games visitors will create "stress points" but say they are confident the city will cope.

"Yes, we can cope but there will be stress points," London 2012 chair Sebastian Coe told London Assembly members during a nearly two hours grilling Wednesday.

Along with Coe, Olympic Delivery Authority head John Armitt and LOCOG CEO Paul Deighton appeared before the assembly for the scheduled briefing.

Coe said that everything was being done to increase capacity on public transport and to make the Olympic Park as accessible as possible.

But Coe and colleagues admitted that some Londoners would be inconvenienced by the extra visitors and potential traffic congestion. Up to 700,000 additional passengers are expected to use the public transport system daily during the Games.

"The reputational risk for London as a city for future events is predicated on our ability" Coe said.

Armitt admitted that transport remained an IOC concerns. "The transport system has and continues to get a great deal of attention from those who are able to deliver it [the ODA and Transport for London].

"Yes, there will be pressure on the system but with a sensible approach we will be able to manage that."

London 2012 chiefs offered no guarantees that the city's residents would be unaffected.

"Life will be unusual because we as a city will be hosting the largest event that takes place in the world on a four-yearly basis," Armitt said.

"Maybe it is going to be a little inconvenient. But [the Olympics] will make London the most exciting place in the world. The inconvenience will be massively offset by the phenomenal things that are happening at that time."

Questions also came regarding the Olympic Road Network and its potential for disrupting Londoners going about their daily lives at Games-time.

Armitt emphasized that the Olympic lanes--to be used by athletes, officials, VIPs, accredited media and some sponsors—covers less than one percent of the total transport network. The ODA was in the process of acquiring traffic orders to be implemented by the five host London borough councils, he confirmed.

Coe stressed that the ORN "is about functionalitynot about glamour".

"Only five percent of those using the ORN will be in cars, the bulk will be athletes and officials using minibuses and buses," he said.

"We have this choice. We can have this city remembered as Barcelona or Atlanta," Coe added, a reference to the contrast between successful transport operations for the 1992 Games and the difficulties at the 1996 Olympics.

London 2012 organizers told Assembly members the Olympic project was right on schedule.

"The Park is in great shape and nearly ready for handover and testing. The venues continue to define the skyline of east London," Coe said. He added that LOCOG's fundraising is on target with 34 commercial partners recruited, despite the difficult economic environment.

Armitt said the ODA is on schedule to complete the Olympic Park by July 27, 2011--the one-year-to-go mark--and promised that the body delivering venues and infrastructure would continue to look for savings across theproject.

He made a point of thanking David Higgins, who is quitting the ODA to take up his new post as CEO of Network Rail in February. Dennis Hone, who has been the ODA director of finance for the last four years, will replace Higgins.

"Everything we have achieved has been under the leadership of David Higgins," Armitt said.

"We are delivering a project twice the size of [Heathrow] Terminal 5 in half the time to a fixed deadline. We would not be in the position we are in without David."

Looking ahead, Deighton said 2011 is about moving toward Games readiness, with a slew of test events planned. "We have to test, test and test," he said. About 40 test events are planned starting next summer.

Details of the security plan for the Olympics, spearheaded by the government's Home Office department, will emerge in the coming months.

"I can assure you they are extraordinarily focused to make sure domestic and international visitors are safe," Deighton said.

LOCOG's staffing would increase from 900 to 6,000 come Games-time, he added.

Ticketing sales, volunteering, torch relay plans and a mascot tour around Britain are other key moments for London over the next 12 months.

The velodrome will be the first Olympic Park venue to be finished in February.

On Thursday, members of the British kayaking team will be involved in testing the already completed White Water Canoe Centre in Broxbourne that will host canoe slalom events in 2012. The venue opens to the public in the spring.

Written by Mark Bisson.