2012-07-24 — /travelprnews.com/ — The Olympic and Paralympic Games present the UK with its biggest peacetime transport challenge, with an extra three million journeys every day. For passengers travelling to and from Heathrow, the airport is advising people to use the Heathrow Express train service, which has extra capacity during the Games and offers a way to bypass congestion.
Although London’s transport system is dealing with more traffic, Heathrow Express actually has increased spare capacity because fewer business passengers are expected to travel during the Games. Roads between Heathrow and central London are likely to be busy, with the main M4 arterial road part of the ‘Olympic Route Network’ with lanes reserved for Olympic Family members at peak times.
Heathrow Express is the fastest and most reliable way of travelling between the airport and central London. Trains take 15 minutes to travel between Paddington and Heathrow and run every 15 minutes. There are 150 trains a day, transporting an average of 16,000 passengers in a business class service. Since its launch in 1998, Heathrow Express has shuttled more than 60 million passengers between the airport and the city, with an average reliability rate of 98 per cent.
Nick Cole, Head of London 2012 Planning at Heathrow said, “Heathrow is the main gateway for athletes and spectators arriving for the Olympics, as well as for the 1.4m people leaving the UK during the two week Olympic period. Whilst London’s transport network will feel the strain of increased traffic, passengers using Heathrow Express can expect swift and stress-free transfers between the airport and the city. It will be the best way of travelling to and from the airport during the Games.”
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For more information please contact the Heathrow press office on +44 (0)20 8745 7224
Notes to editors
Notes to Editors:
- Heathrow Express is the transportation of choice when arriving at London Heathrow for the Games. As part of this, media with an Accredited Games pass can use the service free of charge
- The Olympics and Paralympics will be Heathrow’s greatest operational challenge. More than 80% of Olympic and Paralympic traffic will come through Heathrow, which is the host airport of the Games. 13th August will be Heathrow’s biggest challenge of all, with more than 200,000 departing bags compared with 150,000 on a normal busy summer day
- Heathrow has been working on its preparations since the Games were awarded to London in 2005. The plans have been peer reviewed by previous host airports and by Olympic and Paralympic athletes
- Heathrow is spending more than £20 million to prepare for the Games. Preparations include check-in at the Olympic Village, construction of a temporary Games Terminal for departing athletes and the recruitment of more than 1,000 volunteers to welcome the world to London
- Summer deals during the Games: Kids Travel Free if accompanied by a full paying adult. https://www.heathrowexpress.com/kidsgofree for full terms and conditions
- Travel with four people or more and save up to £40 on Express Class travel. https://www.heathrowexpress.com/familygroup for full terms and conditions
Contact information
- Name
- Heathrow Airport media centre
- Telephone
- +44 (0)20 8745 7224
- heathrowmediacentre@baa.com
As Official Host Airport for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Heathrow will facilitate the journeys of around 80 per cent of the several hundred thousand spectators expected to attend the Games as well as more than 10,000 athletes.
It will be business as usual for 19 million passengers expected to use the airport to travel for business, fly home or on holiday between July and September. The airport has therefore put a number of initiatives in place to bring the excitement and visual spectacle of the Olympics directly to them.
A full schedule of all planned events can be found by visiting:
http://www.heathrowairport.com/about-us/host-airport-of-the-2012-games/special-events-at-the-airport
Media with London 2012 accreditation during the Games period will be entitled to free Heathrow Express travel – just show your pass on board the train.
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