Transport improvements and behavioural shifts
The staging of the Olympic Games London 2012 brought with it substantial investment in the capital’s public transport network, with significant and lasting effects in the post-Games period.
Over GBP 6.5 billion was allocated to upgrading capacity and reliability across the city’s entire system, resulting in more trains, more lines, more accessible platforms and stations, and a completely accessible bus network. In 2042, London will still be using the trains purchased with the Olympic Games in mind. In 2112, fully one century on, the lines extended for London 2012 will still be in service.
The Olympic Javelin trains that carried spectators from central London to the Olympic Park in just seven minutes during the Olympic Games were later absorbed into the high-speed rail fleet of local rail operator Southeastern. In onward connections to Kent and Europe, the Javelins have helped cut commuter travel times by over 50 per cent on some services.
On the British capital’s roads meanwhile, the state-of-the-art traffic modelling tools rolled out for the Olympic Games continue to be implemented today, and the Traffic Coordination Centre concept developed for London 2012 is still used for major events in the city.
The Olympic Games also helped trigger behavioural changes in relation to transport, the benefits of which can still be felt. The increased emphasis on cycling and walking has had positive impacts in terms of physical and mental well-being, while reducing congestion on the roads in peak periods.