Between Saturday 28 July and Sunday 12 August, Earls Court will host the London 2012 Olympic Games Volleyball competition. During the Games, up to 40,000 visitors a day will come to the venue to watch the world’s best athletes compete.
The venue will host three sessions a day from Saturday 28 July until Monday 6 August, and two sessions a day between Tuesday 7 August and Sunday 12 August.
This page is designed to keep you informed about the London 2012 Games in your area and provide you with the information you need to plan ahead for the Games.
Installation of temporary venue infrastructure
Earls Court will be transformed into a 15,000-seat arena by creating temporary seating in a ground-floor bowl to complement the existing seating arrangements.
At the back of the venue there will be temporary partitioning and services to provide facilities for athletes, technical officials and the media.
These installation works will take place from 16 June to 27 July and should not have an impact on the local area.
Venue operations
Venue security
In order to run a safe and secure event, we will need to implement the following security measures during the Games:
- fencing, lighting and CCTV cameras
- security patrols around the venue
- installation of pedestrian and vehicle screening areas
Local travel information
To ensure that the event is successful and that disruption is kept to a minimum, London 2012 has been working with the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, Transport for London and others to develop temporary traffic management and parking plans. These will help to provide a safe and secure environment around the venue, keep traffic moving and prioritise parking for local people.
Find out more about local access and parking plans
Earl’s Court London Underground station
Earl’s Court station will remain open throughout the Volleyball competition. However, it will be particularly busy just before the start and just after the end of the events.
On competition days, in order to manage the additional passengers, access to Earl’s Court station will be from Warwick Road only, and exit will be into Earl’s Court Road only.
The Olympic Route Network (ORN)
The Olympic Route Network (ORN) is made up of a number of roads linking all competition and other key venues to provide reliable journey times for the athletes, officials, media and others who make the Games happen.
The vast majority of the ORN will be open to general traffic but to keep traffic moving along the routes some temporary traffic changes will be necessary. Transport for London contacted residents and local businesses last year to invite comments on the ORN, and you can view the outcome of this and the details of the changes to the way the roads can be used at www.tfl.gov.uk/orn.
For more information about how travel in the local area will be affected visit the Get Ahead of the Games website
After the Games
All temporary seats will be removed after the Games and Earls Court will revert to being one of London’s best exhibition spaces.
We will begin to remove all our temporary structures immediately after the Closing Ceremony of the Olympic Games. We anticipate that it will take us ten days to remove the infrastructure and reinstate the venue to its previous condition.
What will happen and when?
16 June – 26 July: Installation of temporary arena and facilities for all athletes, officials and media
26 July: The Olympic Torch Relay will pass through the area
27 July: Olympic Games Opening Ceremony
28 July – 12 August: Olympic Volleyball competition
12 August: Olympic Games Closing Ceremony
12–22 August: Temporary facilities will be removed from Earls Court
For more information
To find out more about the Games and how it will impact you, please visit the links below:
Get Ahead of the Games travel information
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham
If you have any questions that you would like us to answer, please contact us at inyourarea@london2012.com or call the Community Relations hotline on 08000 722 110
Get involved
From the Olympic Torch Relay and Local Leaders programme to the London 2012 Festival there are millions of ways to join in with London 2012. Events are taking place across the UK from now right until the end of the Games.
Find out how you can join in by simply visiting our Join In pages and see what’s happening in your local community.
