Plans for the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games to be the ‘Public Transport Games’ has taken an important step forward as the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) announced it will fund and manage the £104m scheme to upgrade Stratford Regional Station.

The ODA has identified cost savings and efficiencies in other key transport projects, allowing it to fund and deliver the project in time for the Games and for use in legacy.

At the heart of the ‘Olympic Transport Plan’ is the goal of encouraging 100% of spectators to travel to the Games by public transport, walking and cycling. Stratford Regional Station will be a critical transport hub for thousands of spectators at the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games and for the legacy communities that will be created after 2012. Through building new platforms, subways, lifts and entrances the upgrade scheme will significantly enhance passenger capacity and create a station that is fully accessible for all during Games time and in legacy.

Detailed scheme design work has been carried out by Transport for London (TfL) on behalf of Network Rail, the Department for Transport (DfT) and the ODA and the station enhancements the ODA will now fund and manage include:

* 9 new lifts to all platforms making the station fully accessible for all
* Re-opening a disused subway to create additional access to platforms and make it easier to change between rail, tube and DLR services
* A new westbound Central Line platform
* Widening of platforms to increase capacity
* A new station entrance at mezzanine level to improve the flow of passengers

Stratford Regional Station is one of the busiest interchanges outside Central London with around 37,000 passengers traveling through the station during an average 3 hour morning peak period. The station upgrade scheme will significantly increase capacity during peak periods to accommodate growing demand including the additional 63,000 spectators expected to use the station during the 2012 Games.

ODA Chief Executive David Higgins said: “An enhanced Stratford Station is an important part of our transport plans for the Games which will help transform the Lower Lea Valley into one of the best connected areas in the capital. Increasing passenger capacity and creating a station that is fully accessible for all are at the heart of the plans we have developed with TfL, Network Rail and DfT. There is now the green light to take this important scheme forward and help create a lasting legacy of world-class transport links for east London.”

Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone added: "Thanks to our staging the 2012 Games, this upgrade will give Stratford a state of the art regional station consistent with its emergence as an international destination. It offers full step-free access and improved connections to new homes, jobs and shopping facilities as well as Stratford's new international station nearby. And with the work due for completion by 2010, it's a perfect example of how Londoners will benefit from the Games long before the opening ceremony in 2012, as well as for generations after."

TfL Commissioner Peter Hendy said: “I am delighted that TfL has delivered the designs for the upgrade of Stratford station on time and to budget. This has put the project on track to be delivered in good time for the Games.The ODA can now press on with delivering the increase in station capacity needed for the future and improvements to access for all passengers”.

Work on the Stratford Regional Station Upgrade is expected to start in August 2007 and be completed in late 2010.

Notes

* The Stratford Regional Station Upgrade scheme was developed in a partnership between TfL, DfT, Network Rail, and the ODA who funded TfL’s detailed design work. The funding and programme management of the scheme will now be fully led by the ODA.

* The upgrade scheme will complement other major Docklands Light Railway (DLR) work aimed at increasing capacity including: the conversion of the North London Line to DLR-use from Stratford Station; and new platforms on the North London Line to bring passengers directly onto the upper level of the ticket hall

* The ‘Olympic Transport Plan’ aims to encourage 100% of spectators to travel to the Games by public transport, walking and cycling. The Plan outlines that:
+ One train every 15 seconds will serve the Park, with the rail system carrying 240,000 people per hour – an increase of 100,000 on the usual daily rate;
+ The Javelin rail service, the bullet train at the heart of the rail plans, will speed spectators from Central London to Stratford International Station in the Olympic Park in just 7 minutes;
+ London will use an Olympic Route Network of major roads to transport the athletes and other members of the ‘Olympic Family’ to ensure that they get to their venues on time;
+ Transport plans will be sustainable, minimising environmental impacts wherever possible. The on-going renewal of the bus, train and taxi fleets will ensure that London’s transport is at the forefront of low emissions technology and walking and cycling will be encouraged - with new cycle lanes and walking routes connecting the Park into the wider London networks.