please empty your brain below

I went to the wheelchair tennis test events on Saturday which is located at the far end of the park from the Stratford or Greenway gates. It took me about 25 minutes to walk through the Olympic Park to get there. If you add the 20 mins from the train station to get to the entrance - that's quite a journey. I know you have to be fit to participate in the Olympics - but didn't realise that such fitness was required to spectate.

I am not at all convinced the signs are wrong. Crowd dynamics makes time taken completely different to one person walking when no-one else is about. It said 20 (or 25) minutes to the Olympic park. It doesn't mean it is the same going back. Presumably the Olympic park entrance can cope with a steady stream of people. A station, once full, cannot cope with any more people. Then a train comes in and a large block of people can move only for the queue to become stationary once again. The whole process is much slower.

dg writes: The sign announcing 18 minutes to West Ham appears shortly after a sign announcing 10 minutes to West Ham. Trust me, it's wrong. I've re-edited my paragraph to try to make the point more clearly.

Also gave the Greenway route a try-out on Saturday, as requested by LOCOG in their emails!

Was, for me, a pleasant and different way to see the Park (and also to see some of the things that DG has been talking about on the blog over recent months). It was a bit of a slog from West Ham to the Riverbank Arena all in - shame the weather wasn't a bit nicer, too. But glad to have given it a whirl.

As a Putney resident with a few Games tickets I am now very tempted to make the District Line to West Ham the primary route to the Park during the event, something I hadn't considered before.

I bet those tips about Bromley-by-Bow and Stratford High Street will be useful.

Come on, they only just built Stratford High Street. Surely they could have made it cope properly with the crowds? It's not exactly Pudding Mill Lane, an old and tiny station which is apparently so convenient for the park (even more so than Stratford itself) they're going to have to completely close it.

I had no idea things were happening on Saturday and thought I'd kill some time in Westfield... Arriving at Stratford was fine, though obviously I'd realised there was practising going on with all the folks in pink and whatnot. But Westfield itself was nightmarish (it may, of course, always be like that), and when I left (about 4, I think) the Westfield entrance to Stratford station was closed and they were directing people up over the footbridge and in that way (though for some reason wanted Jubilee-liners to avoid the mezzanine entrance and go all the way down and back in - I ignored them then had a mini-panic I'd be blocked off, but I wasn't).

If that was a "regular" Westfield Saturday plus some people attending practice events (many of whom were taking alternative routes) - yeah, I can see why they're diverting people from Stratford. I do think, though, that locals are probably savvy enough to factor in the, "Yeah, Stratford will be a nightmare, quicker to go to West Ham and walk," theory. If I were a tourist, and didn't know London, but could easily consult the Tube map - I'd be heading straight for Stratford, probably thinking how smart I was. Will be interesting to see how much the official advice actually influences people.

The Games For All are coming - just be able-bodied for the new footbridge with no ramps nor lifts over what was (and to some of us still is) the A11, and if you can use the 'temporary' footbridge at West Ham Station and don't need assistance at the Boris-Car between Excel and the O2. The Games for All-Able-Bodied, that is.

As a former transport planner, the more I see of the Games provisions, the more frightened I become.

@Joel Kos'

I thought DG showed us a level-access crossing of the was-A11 under the bridge, for those who couldn't manage the stairs.

@Timbo -

Indeed; and the temporary footbridge at West Ham is not the only fruit, er, route - the main ticket office exit has, I am pretty sure, lift access.

I saw ramps and level access alternatives at every staircase I came across on the walk.

Rest assured, West Ham to the Olympic Park can be done entirely step-free - there are lifts and ramps wherever necessary.

I used the wrong way footbridge and walked to the stadium on Saturday. Sadly, there were no Oyster tap ins/outs available, but Olympic staff assured me that the journey would auto-complete and that I wouldn't be overcharged. The same on the way back, where loads of us were told there was no need to tap in.

Today, I got my money back after phoning them through the usual channels and they explained that all Olympic spectators would have a paper
ticket and no Oyster card would be necessary.

I too took the opportunity to take the Greenway route to the Olympic Park on Saturday being keen to try out the route having been given the opportunity. I travel through West Ham station several times a week and had seen the construction of the new temporary staircases in progress but as I approached the station from the east it actually made more sense (I was advised) to exit the station via the main entrance and walk the short distance at street level to the place where the staircase exited.

I had some fun during the walk with the many (slightly damp) pink foam befingered volunteers which brightened the journey. There were very few people using the route and having walked it and then almost the entire length of the Olympic Park to get to the Riverbank Arena would conclude that it certainly takes considerable time time and requires stamina.

I had noticed on the route map provided that there was a cycle parking facility marked just before the footbridge over the High Street but forgot to look for it on the day.

I only saw one cyclist but it occurs to me that this would seem to be an ideal opportunity for a couple of 'Boris Bike' docking stations. I am sure 'security concerns' would prevent use in the park itself but post games this would surely be possible and an asset which would also encourage use of The Greenway.

This was my 3rd visit to a test event and my 4th visit to the site and was by far the busiest and gave some insight into how it will be for real (Yes I have some tickets) given how busy it gets at Stratford I would probably elect to use this route for games time visits but I am not sure my wife would be 'up for' the walk.

You won't get Boris Bikes near the Olympics. Not for security reasons, but because the two are sponsored by rival banks.











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