A colossal cheer rang out from Trafalgar Square marking the start of ecstatic, flag-waving celebrations. It was 6 July 2005 and the International Olympics Committee had just announced that the 2012 Olympic Games would be held in London.
Back then it seemed little more than a fantastic prize; an amazing opportunity to change the face of British sport.
Nearly seven years on and the dream is about to become a reality.
Next summer, all eyes will turn to London and the UK as we host the world’s biggest sporting event: the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Thousands of visitors will travel to this country and still more will travel from their homes across the UK because watching the Olympics in your home country is a once in a lifetime experience.
Official advice to ticket holders is to start planning how you will get to your event venue as soon as you can. The transport system will be busy and organisers are encouraging people to use public transport such as trains, buses and coaches to travel to the 2012 games.
Most of the venues for the London 2012 Games are being held at the Olympic Park or in other parts of the capital. But there are other venues located the length and breadth of Britain from Glasgow in the north for the preliminary rounds of the women’s football to Weymouth and Portland on the south coast where the sailing events will be held.
In addition, there will be a massive programme of cultural events taking place during the Games and, if you want to be part of the action but aren’t lucky enough to have a ticket, you can head off to one of many urban “Live Sites” which will give live information, video, news and community events on big screens.
However you plan to get involved, it’s clear that your travel arrangements must be a key part of your advance planning.
There is no spectator parking at any of the event venues, except for a small number of disabled spaces.
National Express has already set up a special timetable of coaches that will drop you right outside the Olympic Park. There are also special services running across the country to meet the demand of the Games which run from 27 July to 12 August 2012.
Coaches can also drop passengers at Victoria Coach Station, a short walk from Victoria Underground Station where you can get a tube to Stratford Regional station. Use the one day travel card that comes with your event ticket to get free travel on London’s tubes and buses.
And if you hold a Family or Young Persons Coachcard, you’ll also benefit from cheaper travel when you travel by National Express.
National Express is the largest scheduled coach service provider in Europe. In the UK the distinctive white National Express coaches travel to 1000 destinations and carry over 18 million passengers a year. Eurolines coaches operate to more than 500 destinations in Europe and Ireland.
