GO-AHEAD IS PROUD TO BE A KEY TRANSPORT PROVIDER AT THE LONDON 2012 OLYMPICS
19 July 2012
Go-Ahead, one of the UK’s largest providers of bus and rail travel, will play a key role in providing public transport at the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympics Games.
Go-Ahead’s Southeastern rail franchise is a particularly important component of the Olympic transport plan. An estimated 1 in 10 of all ticket holders will travel at least part of their journey on a Southeastern service.
Southeastern is well prepared for the extra demand. It will be running 200 additional trains every single day over the Olympic Games period, equivalent to around 3.1 million extra seats. The seven-minute high speed Javelin® service from St Pancras to Stratford will transport around 25,000 people an hour to the Olympic Park at peak times.
Southeastern has employed around 1,000 additional staff who will be on-hand to provide assistance to spectators and regular customers, and all 3,800 Southeastern staff will be working around the clock to provide the best possible train service.
Go-Ahead’s other two rail franchises Southern and London Midland are also increasing capacity to accommodate the increased demand. Southern is running additional late night services along key routes such as London Victoria to East Croydon, Gatwick Airport and Brighton and is adding carriages to many off-peak services, providing over 300,000 extra seats. London Midland's west-coast mainline route - serving Euston and Coventry (a regional Games venue) - will have more than 150,000 extra seats during The Games, as well as later London Euston departures helping people to return home after the events.
In Go-Ahead's bus division, the London operation has been hard at work getting ready for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, organising transport and providing buses for officials, athletes and children, who will be taking part in the opening and closing ceremonies. More than 90 buses will be used for both events. Go-Ahead is also providing bus services for officials, athletes and media for the sailing event in the Weymouth area.
Go-Ahead Group Chief Executive David Brown said: "We’re proud to be playing our part in the world’s greatest ever sporting event and are looking forward to demonstrating the quality of our staff and services. We wish the British Olympic and Paralympics teams the greatest success."
The Olympic Games run from 27 July to 12 August, with the Paralympic Games taking place between 29 August and 9 September.
The official ‘Get Ahead of the Games’ website (www.getaheadofthegames.com) contains useful planning advice including anticipated “hot spots” on the transport network. For example, people will be advised to avoid interchanging at London Bridge station and to consider using other stations such as Charing Cross or Cannon Street instead.
ENDS
For further information, please contact:
The Go-Ahead Group
Samantha Hodder, Group Corporate Affairs Director 020 7821 3928
Samantha Hodder, Group Corporate Affairs Director 020 7821 3928
