London 2012 blog

The main event may be five years away, but commuters through Stratford Regional Station (SRS) are already experiencing some of the enhancements that will make it a gateway for tens of thousands of spectators to get to the sporting action at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

I’m pleased to report that the first phase of the £104 million SRS upgrade started on time and was completed early last week. This initial upgrade involved widening a 100m stretch of platform to an extra 3.2m at its widest point. This will provide more room for passengers and prevent overcrowding. Platform signals were also modified, while the track and overhead lines were re-laid and re-aligned to fit the platform’s extension.


Extending the platform:



The completion of this first stage of the major upgrades planned for SRS is significant because it keeps the Olympic Delivery Authority on track to deliver one of its ‘Milestones to Beijing’ – among the ten milestones to be achieved by the Beijing 2008 Games, a key target is that all of the transport enhancements serving the Olympic Park in Games time and legacy will be well underway.

Future structural changes to the station that will take place in time for the Games include nine new lifts, a new subway to boost access to platforms, an extra Central Line platform and an upgraded mezzanine level to help keep passengers moving and improve the accessibility of the station.

You might ask: how do these changes translate to numbers in terms of getting regular commuters and thousands of extra spectators through Stratford during the Games? Well, here goes. Today, around 37,000 passengers travel through the station in an average three-hour morning peak period. In 2012, this number is forecast to grow to 55,000, with an additional 63,000 spectators expected to pass through during the Games each day. This brings the total number of passengers passing through SRS in a three-hour morning peak period during the Games to around 118,000 – that’s about the population of Cambridge!

Over the next five years, I will enjoy seeing commuters in east London increasingly benefit from our upgrades – not just during the Games, but for years to come as we create a legacy of better facilities and increased connectivity for the east London community.