London Olympics 2012: transport

Between 27 July and 12 August London hosted the Summer Games of the XXX Olympiad and between 29 August and 9 September it hosted the XIV Paralympic Summer Games.

Before the event there was a great deal of concern about the ability of London’s transport network to cope with the higher than expected passenger levels associated with the Games and to deliver athletes, officials and spectators to and from events around the capital in a timely and efficient manner.

In the event, the Games passed off without a transport hitch and figures indicate that over the whole period of London 2012 over 100 million journeys were made on the Tube; 11 million on the DLR; 10.5 million on London Overground; the Barclays Cycle Hire scheme saw a million hires; buses travelled 40 million km; and there was an average ten per cent reduction in traffic on the Olympic Route Network during peak hours.

This note gives an overview of the transport planning for the Games and summarises the performance of the London transport network during the Games period. An overview of how transport is managed and funded in London can be found in HC Library Research Paper RP 08/36 while information on some of the major transport schemes in London can be found on the TfL website.