Capital level with Paris

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London is running neck-and-neck with Paris in the race to host the Olympics after its revitalised bid secured the backing of key officials. The boost to the capital's hopes comes only days before an International Olympics Committee delegation arrives to scrutinise plans for the 2012 Games.

Last year, London slid to third place behind Paris and Madrid when the IOC exposed flaws in transport and the distance of some proposed venues from the Olympic Park in Stratford.

Now it has emerged that experts analysing London's 600-page candidate file - its final blueprint of how an Olympics would be staged - have been impressed with the improvements made in response to the concerns.

One well-placed source told the Evening Standard: "They have gone down really well. The technical people have been impressed."

The IOC is refusing to comment on each of the bids prior to its evaluation commission visiting the five competing host cities - the others are New York and Moscow - and publishing a report in May. But the positive reaction to the "bid book" will provide a timely boost for London and ensure the final vote in July will go to the wire.

Mayor Ken Livingstone said that London had turned its weakness over transport links into a major strength following the announcement of a £10 billion investment programme over the next five years. This will fund the East London line extension and upgrades to the Jubilee line and Docklands Light Railway as well as bus transit schemes in east and south-east London.

The Mayor said: "The shift in perception of our transport capabilities over the last year has been really significant. We started at the point where people were saying there was no point in bidding, the transport was so bloody awful." Last May the IOC, assessing the draft bids, marked down London for its "often obsolete" rail network, overcrowded roads and lack of public support.

Backing for the Games now averages 75 per cent across the nation and tops 80 per cent among the 18-24 age group. Momentum has been built up with the biggest ever marketing campaign run by Transport for London, with 35,000 poster sites bearing London 2012 regalia.

Other key changes include making the Games more "compact" by ditching three outlying venues. Hugh Sumner, a TfL consultant masterminding the plans, said: "We have got the Games even more compact to minimise journey lengths. Athletes are there to compete, not commute. All the athletes will have a bed within the Olympic village and half will live, train and compete in the Olympic Park." Mr Sumner said he would outline proposals such as the Olympic Javelin service, which would transport passengers from St Pancras to Stratford in seven minutes on Japanese-style "bullet trains" when he made his presentation to the IOC next week.

"It's being able to explain the strengths of transport in London," he said. "It might not be perfect, but on a normal day 501 out of 520 trains on London Underground that are scheduled to run at 8.30am operate at 8.30am."

Meanwhile, the Green party group on the London Assembly has come out against the bid on the grounds that it is premature and not "green" enough. Green member Darren Johnson said: "I would dearly love to see London hosting the Olympics one day, but we are simply rushing into this bid when we have far more pressing priorities. Public money would be much better spent on improving housing and transport and creating jobs."

 

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