London 2012 Olympic Games: 100% Public Transport
The London bid for the Games focused on a Games wholly accessible by public transport, walking, or cycling. How did TfL go about achieving this?
Travel Ambassadors directing wheelchair user at Stratford Station (2012-09-01)TfL Corporate Archives
TfL's Key Role
The London 2012 Games was promoted as the ‘public transport Games’ with the aim that 80% of spectators would arrive at Games venues in London by rail, and almost all (99%) by public transport. TfL had to move these spectators to venue stations
Your guide to buses during the 2012 Games: Liverpool Street (2012-06-01)TfL Corporate Archives
Guide to Buses during the 2012 Games: Liverpool Street
Front cover of a pamphlet produced to give information about the bus routes available from Liverpool Street station between July and September 2012
New Passenger Links at West Ham Station
New passenger links were built to allow spectator access to the Olympic Park along The Greenway. Access was enhanced between the District line and Hammersmith and City line platforms, which was used by the majority of spectators using West Ham station to reach the Olympic Park
A range of temporary and permanent station accessibility enhancements were provided to benefit people using the network during the Games. Permanent enhancements included the refurbishment of St John’s Wood Station and the modernisation of Highbury and Islington Station.
Installation of Lifts
Temporary and permanent lifts were constructed at Prince Regent Station to enable the circulation of spectators between the platforms and the ExCel venue
Two ‘fireman’s lifts’ were brought into public use at Westminster and North Greenwich stations to accommodate mobility impaired demand.
Metro Travel News - ramps installed in train stations (2012-05-01)TfL Corporate Archives
Making the Tube More Accessible
Boarding ramps for wheelchair users were introduced on the Underground as a temporary scheme, which has since been continued
Accessible transport options for the 2012 Games (2012-07-01)TfL Corporate Archives
Accessible Transport Options for the 2012 Games
Additional staff and volunteers were specifically trained to help disabled people, the number of stations step free from platform to street rose to 66, extra wide-aisle gates were introduced, and boarding ramps were made available
Overground wheelchair (2012-08-31)TfL Corporate Archives
Ramp on London Overground
Funding was provided to London Underground for the platform train interface project. This provided additional platform humps on the Piccadilly line and introduced the use of manual boarding ramps at 16 stations. Another project was making pier and river vessel access improvements to River Services.
Taxis and private hire vehicles were needed during the Games where individuals required a level of flexibility not offered by public transport. In particular, taxis provided an accessible travel alternative for those with special needs and impairments.
Taxi Fixed Fare Scheme
Flyers advertising TfL's fixed fare taxi share scheme for the Olympic and Paralympic periods
Diagram of taxi drop off points at Brands Hatch (2012-08-01)TfL Corporate Archives
Taxi Drop Off Points
Taxis, pre-booked taxis, and private hire vehicles were able to pick up and drop off at specific zones at all of the Games venues
Travelcard for 2012 Olympic Games (2012-08-09)TfL Corporate Archives
Olympics Travelcard
Free London travelcards were provided by TfL to each ticketed spectator and were distributed in conjunction with the Games tickets
Travelcard for 2012 Paralympic Games (2012-09-01)TfL Corporate Archives
Paralympics Travelcard
Walking May Be Quicker
Walk and cycle route enhancements were delivered and walking was heavily promoted
2012 Games walking routes project (2005-01-01)TfL Corporate Archives
Improvements to 8 walking and cycle routes
The most significant improvements were made around the Olympic Park and River 1 areas, where over 70km of walking and cycling routes were upgraded. Schemes included resurfacing, adding dropped kerbs, widening paths, and improving road crossings
Walking map for Aldgate to Shadwell (2012-07-11)TfL Corporate Archives
Walking Map for Aldgate to Shadwell
To encourage regular travellers to walk the last stages of their journey, a series of walking maps were developed for every mainline terminus station in London. A total of 4 million of these were distributed between May and July 2012
Story compiled by TfL using information in records at the Transport for London Corporate Archives. The Corporate Archives seeks to preserve and make accessible records, not to interpret them. A wider range of material is available for physical consultation.
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