Travel durring the Olympics

[journalist]

Transport for London have now published their advice about travelling around London during the Olympic Games at their Get Ahead of the Games website.

I am a journalist at the BBC where I am looking into the transport plans and would like to speak to anyone whose journeys around London or to work will be affected during the Games.

[Mod note: Just to confirm, 'journalist' has registered using a BBC email address, so his request is likely to be genuine.

However, RailUK is not responsible for any communication that takes place as a result of this thread, and any agreement made is between yourself and the BBC directly, and does not involve RailUK. In any response, please ensure you're not coming across as a representative of the forums. - Mike395]

 

[amcluesent]

I'm taking holiday unless my employer pays me a premium for all the aggro in coming into London!

 

[pablo]

You got time to talk to millions of peeps?
The costs of this Pesky Performance spread far wider and are far greater than the O's overblown budget. CNI is being beefed up all over the country. Have a search on the Flyer BB for threads about the clamp down on airspace around the capital too. http://forums.flyer.co.uk/search.php

 

[curb]

I'm taking holiday unless my employer pays me a premium for all the aggro in coming into London!

Me too, I'm off to Crete for the two weeks of the games.

 

[pitdiver]

Transport for London have now published their advice about travelling around London during the Olympic Games at their Get Ahead of the Games website.

I am a journalist at the BBC where I am looking into the transport plans and would like to speak to anyone whose journeys around London or to work will be affected during the Games.

I am staying well away from London and the Olympics. Going sailing on the Broads with not even a radio.

I think the OP will find a large percentage of members of this forum will being doing something similar to a lesser or greater degree.

 

[Clip]

I am staying well away from London and the Olympics. Going sailing on the Broads with not even a radio.

I think the OP will find a large percentage of members of this forum will being doing something similar to a lesser or greater degree.

If only. @Ive decided to become a martyr and am working through the whole thing :cry: wish i didnt offer that now

 

[burneside]

It's odd that the Get Ahead of the Games website only shows tube/DLR connections when a lot of people will be using national rail services to get to venues e.g. Greenwich. They have certainly got their information about Greenwich wrong, the advice is to use nearby stations instead, such as Deptford. Services from Deptford will be much reduced during the games, and if anything people will be walking to Greenwich to find transport.

 

[Barclay]

I live and work in London, and am greatly looking forward to the Olympics despite not having any tickets for the games. I will stagger my commuting times if necessary, but for me overcrowding is only an issue in the morning peak, and the crowds are more spread by the evening. I don't think the games will affect the morning commute too much, most events start later than the rush hour. But the real reason I'm looking forward so much is to travel at the weekend with no engineering works!

 

[Schnellzug]

Being where Mr. Tony Blair decided that he'd generously give the Olympic Sailing Events, i wish very heartily that the Olympic Committee had decided to give them to Uzbekistan or somewhere, I can tell anyone. Not because I think there'll be enormous congestion, I'm sure there'll be nothing of the sort, but because the idiotic Council, all in order to massage Lord Coe's Ego, have royally messed about with a mroad layout that was working perfectly well in order to cater for their pie in the sky "60,000 spectators a day". About the only thing that might be mildly interesting would be a Voyager down here a couple of times a day.

 

[davelew99]

Personally i'm looking forward to the Olympics - i have tickets for the sailing and we will be travelling from Poole to Weymouth by train (first class no less! - already booked via the NRE/Olympics travel booking portal)

 

[asylumxl]

Having just looked at the website, I'd say my commute would not be affected much. They've predicted that London Bridge will be exceptionally busy. That's not really any different to peak times to be fair.

 

[Southern]

Staying well away from anywhere holding any events, feel sorry for the people living in those areas.

 

[Firesprite]

I myself, intend to stay well clear of the 'Visa Games' former called the Olympics

 

[Temple Meads]

Being where Mr. Tony Blair decided that he'd generously give the Olympic Sailing Events, i wish very heartily that the Olympic Committee had decided to give them to Uzbekistan or somewhere, I can tell anyone. Not because I think there'll be enormous congestion, I'm sure there'll be nothing of the sort, but because the idiotic Council, all in order to massage Lord Coe's Ego, have royally messed about with a mroad layout that was working perfectly well in order to cater for their pie in the sky "60,000 spectators a day". About the only thing that might be mildly interesting would be a Voyager down here a couple of times a day.

I thought that because of the sailing, they'd given your town a bit of a "makeover", surely that's no bad thing?

 

[313103]

I will be one of those working throughout the Olympics. Not that i am complaining (thanks RMT for that ). Wether the infrastructure allows me to do my job without hinderence remains to be seen.

 

[Michael.Y]

A BBC journalist that can't spell "during"?

 

[Hydro]

A BBC journalist that can't spell "during"?

Definitely genuine.

(hohoho)

 

[Michael.Y]

It's odd that the Get Ahead of the Games website only shows tube/DLR connections when a lot of people will be using national rail services to get to venues e.g. Greenwich. They have certainly got their information about Greenwich wrong, the advice is to use nearby stations instead, such as Deptford. Services from Deptford will be much reduced during the games, and if anything people will be walking to Greenwich to find transport.

It's a TFL website, so therefore I'd say it would only have jurisdiction to give advice about TFL services. Telling people to use one franchise over another could lead to unsavoury accusations.

 

[pitdiver]

Being where Mr. Tony Blair decided that he'd generously give the Olympic Sailing Events, i wish very heartily that the Olympic Committee had decided to give them to Uzbekistan or somewhere, I can tell anyone. Not because I think there'll be enormous congestion, I'm sure there'll be nothing of the sort, but because the idiotic Council, all in order to massage Lord Coe's Ego, have royally messed about with a mroad layout that was working perfectly well in order to cater for their pie in the sky "60,000 spectators a day". About the only thing that might be mildly interesting would be a Voyager down here a couple of times a day.

All I can say is poor old Weymouth. Damned O's have put the kibosh on Diving around Portland during the Games :-x

 

[Schnellzug]

I thought that because of the sailing, they'd given your town a bit of a "makeover", surely that's no bad thing?

Pointless traffic Lights when Roundabouts were doing the job perfectly well, and new Bus shelters, and Real Time Bus Information Displays that have never yet worked properly; that, I think, is about the sum of it. And there's an amusing anecdote about the Bus shelters too, that I may share some time.

 

[Bellwater]

When Does the Olympics start and finish btw?

I rarely watch BBC now, so not had the opportunity of having it shoved down my throat.

 

[burneside]

It's a TFL website, so therefore I'd say it would only have jurisdiction to give advice about TFL services. Telling people to use one franchise over another could lead to unsavoury accusations.

The website info states: This website has been developed by Transport for London on behalf of the Olympic Delivery Authority, London 2012, the Department for Transport, the Highways Agency, National Rail and the Mayor of London.

I would therefore expect it to give information about travel options including National Rail, not just tube and DLR.

 

[Schnellzug]

The website info states: This website has been developed by Transport for London on behalf of the Olympic Delivery Authority, London 2012, the Department for Transport, the Highways Agency, National Rail and the Mayor of London..

I love the proliferation of quangos this whole enterprise has given rise to; there's the Olympic Delivery Authority (chairman John Armitt, formerly of Network Rail), the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG), a name worthy of Chairman Mao, Comrade Stalin or Robespierre; and now I hear that there's the Olympic Legacy Company as well, I heard the other day, which presumably is responsible for flogging everything off to anyone who thinks that they could afford it afterwards. Nice work, if you can get it.

 

[Cletus]

When Does the Olympics start and finish btw?

I rarely watch BBC now, so not had the opportunity of having it shoved down my throat.

Opening ceremony 27th July (football starts on 25th)

Closing ceremony 12th August

 

[Eagle]

Pointless traffic Lights when Roundabouts were doing the job perfectly well, and new Bus shelters, and Real Time Bus Information Displays that have never yet worked properly; that, I think, is about the sum of it. And there's an amusing anecdote about the Bus shelters too, that I may share some time.

On the plus side, at least it gave them an excuse to actually finish the bypass they were supposed to build in the early 1990s...

 

[DavidBusDriver]

Regarding a lot of people living in the areas affected by the Olympics, and please be aware this is rather off topic, if they are renting they are apparently going to be unaffected by all the extra footfall etc. in the areas, as it has been reported that either recent tenancy agreements have been formulated to include a clause that tenants must be away from the property for the duration of the games, and that current tenants may be given legal (or illegal?) notice to vacate the property so that the property owners can 'cash in' on some of the sky high rates that are being offered for such accomodation! As I say, this is as reported in a newspaper, surprisingly not the Daily Mail, so it may be scaremongering, but to be honest, nothing at all would surprise me!

 

[Mutant Lemming]

I had reason to traverse London to get to Stratford for a certain 'seminar/briefing/whatever' - a journey of around 14 miles taking one and three quarter hours.
As was pointed out to me when I got there - It would have taken less time to get to Stratford International from Belgium.
As with most Olympic games, the majority of people who have to pay for them will never benefit from them.

 

[LE Greys]

Well, I would have been looking forward to going had the ticketing system not been such a nightmare (the way they planned it, you could hardly tell which events you were applying for - is "queue on the day" such a bad idea?). As it is, I won't do much travelling and will spend half the time in front of the telly trying to combine watching and writing. As for travel, it will all be in a northerly direction for the full duration.

 

[Bald Rick]

I had reason to traverse London to get to Stratford for a certain 'seminar/briefing/whatever' - a journey of around 14 miles taking one and three quarter hours.
As was pointed out to me when I got there - It would have taken less time to get to Stratford International from Belgium.

Maybe, but you would have struggled to alight when passing through at 300kph.

 

[Clip]

Opening ceremony 27th July (football starts on 25th)

Closing ceremony 12th August

Remember the Paraolympics start 2 weeks after the end of the games and there is still massive demand for them too - so we have been told.

I know one company are treating the whole ting as 9 weeks to take in before during and after the whol shebang.