I went to Nottingham to meet with local council officials from all over the East Midlands at the East Midlands Development Agency to give them a presentation about what the London 2012 Transport Plan means for people in their region, how spectators from the East Midlands will get to the Games, and how the investment being made in London will have a knock-on effect for their local public transport.
Transport Team 2012 are making great progress in setting up the transport infrastructure to ensure that the 7.7m spectators for the Games will be able to get there safely and reliably on public transport.
57% of journeys will be made from within London to the Olympic Park in the 16 days of the Games, and that means that we have to put the majority of the investment into increasing the capacity of stations such as Stratford and West Ham and increasing the frequency of services. We are also working closely with key stakeholders such as Transport for London and the Department for Transport to ensure a co-ordinated approach to the biggest transport effort this country has seen outside of all-out war.
People from all over the UK go through London on a regular basis for meetings, to go to airports, the Eurostar, concerts, museums and on holiday. An improved public transport system will benefit people far beyond the confines of the M25, and far beyond 2012. An effective transport system in the capital has a knock-on effect to localised transport systems, not just in terms of a physical improvement as different routes into London are improved and complemented with greater frequency services, but also in terms of encouraging councils to follow suit and get ready for a better infrastructure.
The meeting in Nottingham was the first of many presentations I will give across the UK, and I was delighted to meet with different councils from across the East Midlands who are so interested and engaged in getting ready for the summer of 2012.
