Conduct of London Olympics 2012

[Daredevil]

I remember there was a big hullaballoo in British media about the conduct of Commonwealth games in Delhi. I would like to see how well Britain will conduct the Olympics games. Here we shall document the problems faced during London Olympics.

Transport trouble for London four days from Games | Olympics 2012

By Sam Speed

LONDON, July 23 (Reuters) - Severe disruptions hit three of the main rail links to the Olympic Park in east London early on Monday, four days before the start of the Games, in the latest transport fiasco to raise anxiety levels in the British capital.

Adding to the stress factor, the labour union RMT announced industrial action by staff in some parts of the city's transport network during the Games to demand bonuses in recognition of the extra work involved.

Weary Londoners accustomed to almost daily problems on the Tube, the world's oldest urban underground railway network, have been predicting for years that the overstretched system would struggle to cope with the Olympics.

The Monday morning rush hour seemed to confirm their worst fears as they were met with announcements over the speaker system that the Central Line was suspended on its busiest stretch while the Jubilee Line was running at a snail's pace.

Compounding the misery, a key overground link was also "experiencing severe delays".

These announcements were met with disbelieving rolls of the eyeballs as the Central Line, Jubilee Line and Overground all go to Stratford, site of the Olympic Park and focus of years of infrastructure improvement efforts.

"This is going to be brilliant for the Olympics," said one passenger on the crowded but at least functioning Northern Line, to guffaws from fellow commuters pressed into the carriage like sardines.

The Central Line closure was due to a passenger on the tracks, hardly the fault of those running the Tube. But ominously, the Jubilee Line delays were caused by faulty platform-edge doors at North Greenwich station -- gateway to several Olympic venues.

The Overground's problems were due to a signalling failure, one of London transport's most common ailments, according to the announcements.

"It's been a bit of a nightmare. They seem to be understaffed. I'm not sure they're going to be able to cope," said Mike Troughton, 30, emerging from busy Liverpool Street station.

The RMT said staff from South West trains would refuse to work overtime throughout the Games, while staff at Serco, the company that runs the bicycles-for-hire known as "Boris Bikes" after the capital's colourful Mayor Boris Johnson, would take similar action during the first weekend of the Games.

Some staff at Transport for London, including those manning information telephone lines, would strike for short periods during the opening weekend, the RMT said. These actions are all over demands for Olympic bonuses.

"Although we have secured good deals on Olympics recognition and reward for the vast majority of our members we still have a small number of employers holding out," said RMT boss Bob Crow in a statement.

"We cannot accept that blatant unfairness and the time has come for these employers to seize the opportunity, get round the table and sign off agreements that recognise the additional work and pressures that these staff will be carrying." (Reporting and writing by Estelle Shirbon; Editing by Peter Rutherford)

 

[Daredevil]

LONDON'S SECURITY UNDER NEW SCRUTINY

Britain's Olympic security plans fell under fresh scrutiny Sunday, with a newspaper reporting that several people on a terror watch list have been waved through airport border controls without being flagged and officials trying to calm the uproar over a security contractor's failure to provide its promised number of staff.

The Olympic torch relay is on its epic journey to London. Keep track of where it is on the road to the games HERE.
The Observer newspaper's report is the latest in a series of last-minute concerns to surface as London gets ready to host the Olympic Games from July 27 to Aug. 12.

The paper said that, since the start of the month, immigration staff at London's Heathrow Airport had missed several people on a security watch list whose arrival in the country was meant to have been reported to counter-terrorism police or Britain's domestic intelligence service.

The newspaper cited unions as suggesting that staff brought in to help relieve the pressure at Heathrow, which has faced recurring problems handling large influxes of passengers, weren't being properly trained. The airport, Europe's busiest, has recently struggled to clear huge lines that build up at immigration checkpoints during peak times, leading to fears of Olympics-related chaos as tourists fly in to watch the games.

The report left it unclear whether the people on the watch list were still in the country, whether they were intercepted later, or exactly why they had attracted the attention of counter-terrorism officials in the first place. Britain's Home Office declined to comment Sunday on the Observer story.


British authorities already are under pressure over the failure of security contractor G4S to deliver some 10,400 personnel to protect stadiums and other events. The blunder has forced the government to call in an extra 3,500 troops to guard the games — that's over and above the 7,500 troops already promised to help out at some 100 venues and sensitive sites.

The Independent on Sunday newspaper reported that top Home Office officials had been warned by police nearly a year ago about concerns over the ability of G4S to provide enough staff for the Olympic Games, while the BBC quoted the chief of Britain's National Association of Retired Police Officers as saying that his group could have helped fill the shortfall in manpower — if only G4S had bothered getting in touch.

''With enough notice we could have provided a significant number (of retired officers),'' he told the BBC. ''They have made no effort to do that.''

The British minister in charge of the Olympics appeared on a talk show Sunday to try to contain the scandal — noting that G4S boss Nick Buckles had apologized and would be footing the bill for the last-minute military deployment — as well as up to 20 million pounds ($31 million) for failing to live up to his company's end of the deal.


''I don't think this is a moment for getting into the blame game actually,'' Hunt told the BBC's ''Andrew Marr Show.'' ''G4S has been quite honorable. They put their hands up. Nick Buckles, their chief executive, has said they got it wrong. They've apologized. They're going to cover all the costs.''

Hunt insisted that the government realized only last week that G4s would not be able to meet its targets and that it immediately activated its contingency plans.

''I think it's completely normal that you're going to find some contractors on a project of this size who aren't able to deliver what they've promised,'' he said, stressing that security for the games would not be compromised. ''We have contingency plans for all eventualities.''

London organizing chairman Sebastian Coe seemed to express sympathy with G4S, saying that ''the reality is that it was only when the rubber hit the road that we were able to see, as G4S identified, a gap,'' he told BBC radio.

In a separate interview with The Sunday Telegraph, Buckles said he had considered resigning over the blunder — although he didn't seem in any hurry to go.

''I want to stay,'' he told the newspaper, after admitting that the failure had been a ''big setback'' for the company. ''I am very committed to staying. It just depends, doesn't it?''

 

[The Messiah]

Dont expect there media to show it on primetime like our shameless media did.

 

[Daredevil]

Problems galore for London Olympics 2012

London, Jul 20: The London Olympics have been hit by a series of problems even before the first event started. Local passport officials and train drivers have gone on to strike, posing a serious challenge to the Olympics starting next week while serious worries have surfaced over security issues.

London Olympics Special

Passport desks around London struggled to provide smooth public service in recent months and passengers have had to wait for several hours for immigration checks at Heathrow Airport because of staff crunch. The Public and Commercial Services union said its staff, including the border agency and immigration personnel, had called a strike following a dispute with the interior ministry over pay and job cuts.

Prime Minister David Cameron, speaking during a visit to Afghanistan, said of the planned action by passport officials: "I do not believe it would be justified."

The Aslef rail union said on Thursday that 450 of its staff in central England would not join work between August 6-8 over pensions. It would affect visitors from travelling from places like Sheffield, Nottingham and Deby to London. The government warned the unions saying it would invite serious reaction from the people.

Authorities have already faced problem in deploying extra soldiers to beef up security at the Games after a private firm failed to provide 10,400 security guards as was promised and the Defence Ministry had to rope in an extra 3,500 troops to make up the 17,000-strong security contingent. Another 2,000 troops might also be required if the security firm fails to meet the minimum requirement of 7,000 staff.

Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, however, assured safety for the Games in a city where suicide bombers had carried out a terrible attack in July 2005, killing 52 people. The suicide bomb attack on a bus carrying Israeli tourists at Burgas airport in Bulgaria on Wednesday created further concerns but Hunt said they were abiding by the advice of a very competent intelligent service.

There are issues with the opening ceremony of Jul 27 as well. Reports say that Oscar-winning film director Danny Boyle, who is overseeing the 27 million pounds show, are having problems with the Olympic Broadcasting Services which is charge of airing the Games.

An unnamed source said the two sides are having 'miserable times' and rehearsals are reportedly behind the schedules. Hunt said although he is not aware about the specific problems, but expects that there will be negotiations to settle the issues. The event, which will feature 10,000 performers, has been shortened keeping in mind a probable public inconvenience while returning home at night.

The prevailing wet weather in the Olympics has been another concern. The British media have already termed it as 'Soggy Olympics'. Hunt, however, said it was normal that there would be a few initial hitches in staging such a huge event but said the preparation so far was smooth and encouraging.

 

[Blackwater]

hahah these bloody goras and their media made fun of Delhi games.

 

[Daredevil]

As London Olympics loom, so do problems

LONDON — "Ten days to the Games — what could go wrong?" a sarcastic headline in Britain's Guardian newspaper asked Tuesday. The answer, as this Olympic host nation has discovered, is: Quite a lot.

Even as athletes begin arriving in London for the 2012 Summer Games, Olympic organizers are coming under fire over bungled security staffing and other issues that have prompted the British media and opposition lawmakers to already declare the event a "fiasco."

On Tuesday, organizers said they would withdraw half a million tickets for soccer matches and reduce stadium sizes because of scant demand in farther-flung host cities including Glasgow and Cardiff. A day earlier, U.S. and other athletes were hauled around for hours on at least two buses that lost their way en route to the Olympic Village in East London.

That joy ride, however, paled in comparison with the security blunders casting a shadow ahead of the Games. The private contractor hired to provide guards — British giant G4S — conceded last week that it was at least 3,500 personnel short, sending the military scrambling to make up the gap.On Tuesday, furious lawmakers summoned the company's chief executive, Nick Buckles, before Parliament for an emergency hearing. They grilled him on management failings and reports that even more G4S staffers were ill trained or were failing to report to work at Olympic sites across Britain, forcing police departments to step in to provide additional security in some areas outside London.

"It's a humiliating shambles for the country, isn't it?" said David Winnick, a member of the opposition Labor Party.

Buckles replied, "I cannot disagree with you."
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Meanwhile, the press issued fresh diatribes against Olympic traffic planning in London, where dedicated lanes for Olympic-related transport were reportedly confusing motorists and complicating what is already one of the world's busiest rush hours. Many drivers appeared not to realize that most of the newly labeled lanes could still be used until next week.

But at least one major transit spot was getting relatively high marks — Heathrow Airport, which had its busiest day ever Monday as athletes began pouring in. Heathrow is notorious for its long immigration lines, particularly as border control staffing has been cut in recent months. But on Monday, officials said, the maximum wait time for the more than 236,000 arriving passengers was about 24 minutes.

"We have spent seven years preparing for the Games' challenge," said Nick Cole, head of Olympic planning with the British Airports Authority. "Now we are putting that planning into action with thousands of extra staff and volunteers on hand to welcome the world to London."

That did not help the athletes assigned to the buses that got lost on the way to Olympic Park. Kerron Clement, a U.S. 400-meter Olympic hurdler, was not amused, tweeting: "athletes are sleepy, hungry and need to pee. Could we get to the Olympic Village please." and, "Um, so we've been lost on the road for 4hrs. Not a good first impression London."

Thus far, though, the security shortfalls have caused the biggest stir — not just because of their magnitude but because of their disclosure so close to the Opening Ceremonies.

The company has said it stands to lose up to $50 million from its contract because of the failures. The government, meanwhile, has sought to reassure the public, national athletic delegations and the media that the military is well prepared to ensure that security requirements will be met.

"Our troops are highly skilled and highly trained and this task is the most important facing our nation today," Home Secretary Theresa May said in a statement after the shortfalls became apparent.

"There remains no specific security threat to the Games and the threat level remains unchanged," she said.

 

[BangersAndMash]

We will do just fine.

 

[Daredevil]

Main London 2012 Olympics tube line suffers meltdown days before Games

The Olympics Games may not officially start until Friday evening, however, a number of tube lines are already suffering meltdowns.

 

[Daredevil]

Cuts in Olympics opening, problems spiral in London


The London Olympics opening ceremony has been cut short due to 'transport concerns', the UK's Olympics minister said on Wednesday, as Londoners faced more problems with major delays on some Underground lines.

The opening ceremony, directed by Oscar-winning Danny Boyle, will not include a sequence involving stunt bikes on July 27 to allow spectators to get back from the East London stadium using public transport. Olympics minister Hugh Robertson denied that cutting the opening ceremony had "anything to do with the G4S security situation".

"It is all about making sure the ceremony ends between 12 and 12.30 am so that people can get back to Central London on time to catch the last trains home," he added.

The decision to cut short the ceremony, which cost £27 million, comes after the organisers admitted 700,000 tickets for Olympic events were yet to be sold. Tickets for football events will be cut by 500,000 by reducing capacity across all football venues.

After a protest by taxi drivers on Tuesday, a group of MPs is up in arms over the special Olympic lanes on London's roads. LibDem MP Tom Brake has tabled a motion in the House of Commons urging the organising committee to allow cyclists to use the Games Lanes during the Olympics. The fine for using the Olympic lanes from next Wednesday is £130.

The London Games have been hit by one controversy after the other at the last stage before the opening next week, with the ire of the country focussed on the security and transport problems.

The Locog also decided to cut the football tickets by 500,000 by reducing capacity across the football venues. "This will involve possibly not using a tier, or an area of a ground, in some of the venues. This can apply to men's and women's football, if necessary," Locog said. Lord Sebastian Coe had last week said that the London Games had the best record till now on ticket sales.

The London Olympics organising committee said the decision to cut sections in any production was a normal thing. "Performers are rehearsing sections and transitions to ensure they are as tight as possible. This is normal in any production, whether it be theatre or ceremonies," a Locog spokesperson said.

The performers whose section had been cut would be given credit in the programme and would be paid according to the contract, he added.

The theme of the opening ceremony, titled Isles of Wonder, is inspired by William Shakespeare's play, The Tempest.

The Olympic stadium will have about 80,000 spectators, including heads of state from across the world (More than 120 heads of state have been invited by the IOA) and the ceremony will have an estimated audience of one billion on television.

The transport issues are still plaguing the London authorities as some of the Underground lines experienced severe delays on Wednesday.

The Circle and District lines had severe delays during the morning rush and then later in the afternoon over a signal failure at Gloucester Road. The Central Line experienced delays over a signal failure at Lancaster Gate.

 

[Blackwater]

We will do just fine.

Beware of pakis in UK.they will also try to do more than just fine

 

[Daredevil]

Agh! Bad news day for London Olympics


U.S. Olympian sprinter Michael Johnson poses for the photographers holding the Olympic Flame at Stonehenge. But are problems with the Games two weeks out threatening London's glory? Photo / AP

With the Olympics just two weeks away, embarrassing logistical problems about security, staff, phones and traffic has made the mood in London as gloomy as the weather.

British lawmakers clamored for an explanation of why the armed forces need to field 3,500 more troops to protect the games, eclipsing the day that US track star Michael Johnson held the Olympic flame aloft at sunrise at the ancient monument at Stonehenge.

London's aging infrastructure kept offering up unpleasant surprises as the main road near Heathrow Airport remained closed following emergency repairs. The British mobile phone company O2, meanwhile, acknowledged that thousands of customers had been affected by outages on its network a bad omen ahead of the first iPhone games.

And then there was the weather. Rain on and off and on again.

London's Hyde Park the site of outdoor concerts and other live events has trucked in piles of wood chips to cover a muddy quagmire after the wettest June on record. Someone apparently decided that recreating Woodstock wasn't very Olympic-friendly.

Here's a look at the tsunami of bad news.

BRING ON THE TROOPS

British Home Secretary Theresa May confirmed that the government will deploy an additional 3,500 servicemen at the London Olympics amid concerns that a private security contractor had failed to recruit enough staff. The firm G4S had been enlisted to provide the bulk of the 13,200 private security guards across 100 Olympic venues.

British lawmakers questioned why the apparent gap in security had surfaced so late.

"G4S have let the country down and we have literally had to send in the troops," said opposition Labour Party lawmaker Keith Vaz, demanding to know when the issue was first identified and if G4S which has millions in contracts from the British government will suffer any financial penalties.

The move brings the total number of armed forces staff at the games to 17,000, dwarfing the 9,500 troops Britain has in Afghanistan.

The massive Olympic security operation also will feature 12,000 police, 3,000 volunteers, Typhoon fighter jets, helicopters, two warships and bomb disposal experts.

WELCOME TO BRITAIN: THE LINE FORMS HERE

The British media has been full of bad news lately about the queue, that long line at passport control while entering the island nation.

Those lines have been blamed on everything from airline schedules to too much wind, but everyone is looking for a way to bring the wait down. More people than ever used London's Heathrow Airport last year nearly 70 million passengers straining its traditional immigration desks.

A report from John Vine, the independent chief inspector of borders and immigration, warned that border staff with only basic training and little immigration experience were being used to cut the length of the queues.

But the Home Office insists help is on the way. Starting this weekend, 500 more people will be manning those desks.

WILL YOU BE ABLE TO GET THERE FROM HERE?

London's aging transport network continued to befuddle planners who have been working some for years to get the city spruced up for the games and for the hundreds of thousands of tourists expected.

The main road linking Heathrow to London and Olympic Park remained closed. The Highways Agency said repairs had reached a critical stage and would continue on a damaged overpass least until the weekend.

But the big question mark remains as to whether the entire London transport infrastructure can handle the strain. The city's residents are accustomed to overcrowding and delays but tourists may find it shocking, said Tony Travers, a transport expert at the London School of Economics.

"At this point, we're in the lap of the gods," Travers said. "The London infrastructure is always led on a wing and a prayer."

AND THE RAIN IS A PAIN

The gloomy weather has the entire nation wondering if it will ever get sunny for longer than 15 minutes. The Met Office, Britain's national forecaster, has insisted that the wet start to July does not necessarily mean that it will rain during the Olympics, from July 27 to Aug. 12.

"We could have some nice days," Met spokesman Dan Williams said, somewhat hopefully, although stressing it was still too early to offer any Olympic forecasts.

"It's understandable that people might feel gloomy, especially since we have had such a disappointing run this month," he admitted.

SO MUCH FOR THE IPHONE OLYMPICS

The scariest development for many has been a mobile phone outage.

British mobile phone company O2 restored its 2G and 3G services after a breakdown that hit some customers for as long as 24 hours Wednesday and Thursday.

That's not a good omen for the vast amounts of tweets and photos expected to be sent during what has been dubbed the "Twitter Games." Those responsible for London's fiber optic cables, phone masts and Wi-Fi hotspots are bracing for a tsunami of data.

O2 executives have said previously the company spent 50 million pounds on Olympic-related projects.

IS IT JUST A BAD HAIR DAY OR SHOULD LONDON PANIC?

Historians like to note that with any human endeavor, things go wrong. Martin Polley, an Olympic historian at the University of Southampton, recalled that in the 1948 London Games, organizers forgot to get a union flag for the home team to carry into the stadium. Roger Bannister, who later shattered the four-minute mile, broke into a car to get one for the parade.

So is Jacques Rogge, the head of the International Olympic Committee, worried about the spate of bad news? Absolutely not.

"It's not peculiar for London. We've always had difficulties in the days leading up to the games in the previous games and the games were of an impeccable nature," he said.

Besides, there's still time to sort things out.

"We're confident that everything will be fine by the opening ceremony," Rogge said.

-AP

 

[The Messiah]

We will do just fine.

who is this "we" ?

 

[Blackwater]

who is this "we" ?

"We" means he and his few pakis friend

 

[BangersAndMash]

who is this "we" ?

we as in the UK

"We" means he and his few pakis friend

sorry to burst your bubble, but I don't do paki friends

 

[Daredevil]

^^I ignore your above flame-bait post as it has already been covered during Commonwealth games. This thread is about London Olympics and how they conduct themselves now.

 

[Daredevil]

'Toilet trouble' at Olympic Games Village

London: Transport and security woes came visiting the London Olympics organisers in ample measure ahead of the greatest sporting show on earth, forcing the athletes to experience a different kind of trouble at the Games Village in London. Sharing of a toilet among four sportspersons, and sometimes even by six athletes, is causing strain and forcing some of them to alter their morning schedules so as to manage essential routines.

"It's amazing that competitors have to get used to these sort of things at the biggest event of the world. This may just be design issue for the flats, but the athletes are getting quite stressed," said an Indian official who is part of the delegation staying at the Games Village. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said tempers had not frayed until now, but if an athlete spends extra time in the toilet, he tends to get glared at by others sharing the apartment.

Two others in the Indian contingent a boxer and a shooter confirmed that the toilet time was the first thing athletes got to discuss after checking into the Games Village. "You can't just order a different flat with an extra toilet, so we have to deal with what is available. But come competition time, and this could become a serious matter," said the Indian shooter, preferring not to identified.

The boxer, who had also competed in the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, said in retrospect the facilities inside the apartment in the 2010 Games Village seemed much better. "So many sportsmen did not have to line up to use the toilet in any of the apartments in the Commonwealth GamesVillage," he said. The "toilet trouble" brings into light the complaint by Australian hockey coach Ric Charlesworth, who was livid that the original men's hockey draw gave his players three early morning starts.

Given three Australian matches, scheduled to begin at 8.30 am local time, Charlesworth said it would mean getting up at 5 am despite the Village being in the same Olympic Park arena where the hockey pitch was located. If hockey teams were complaining even though they do not have to travel long distances for the matches, imagine the plight of shooters whose ranges are located far from the Village, the Indian shooter said. Given the bonhomie that usually prevails among athletes representing their country at the Olympics, fist-fights may now occur among boxers, but shooters will probably need to fine-tune their morning routine before aiming to hit the Bull's Eye.

 

[Daredevil]

Olympics ticket fiasco: hundreds queue as problems prompt mass complaints

Hundreds forced to queue for hours in London after CoSport, the biggest overseas agency, fails to post tickets before Games start

 

[BangersAndMash]

Tehehehee

Daredevil

 

[LETHALFORCE]

London Games visitors warned of bed bug stowaways"Ž


London Games visitors warned of bed bug stowaways - Sport LIVE


Bed bugs are tiny blood-sucking insects that do not transmit disease but leave their victims itchy.

Bed bugs were a thing of the past in most Western countries by the early 1990s, but they have staged a spectacular comeback since the banning of the powerful insecticide DDT.

"The movement of travellers around the time of the Sydney Games helped to spread things around," said Cameron Webb, an entomologist at Sydney's Westmead Hospital. "Our message to visitors to London is make sure you're not bringing them home."

Bed bugs take up residence wherever people sleep.

"From backpacker hostels to five-star hotels, from trains to boat cruises, anywhere people sleep, there's now a risk factor there of bed bugs being present," Webb said.

A hard, clamshell suitcase is a better luggage option than a rucksack with lots of hidey-holes, and for those worried about being an unwitting bed bug vector, stowing your luggage in the bathtub or shower is better than leaving clothes on the floor or unpacking and filling up hotel room drawers.

Do not put your faith in mosquito coils, roll-ons or aerosols, experts said.

"There's no strong evidence that insect repellents provide much protection," Webb said.

Once home, guard against a bedroom infestation by killing bed bugs that might have hitched a ride by putting soft belongings in a hot clothes drier for a 30-minute spin.

Webb said bed bugs cause some people great anxiety, especially the fear of unwittingly bringing them home and setting up a bedroom infestation.

"The message we always like to share is that your worry about bed bugs isn't going to worry the bed bugs themselves," he said.

"You're better off being calm. Being aware of them is dramatically going to reduce the risk of both being bitten by them and bringing them home."

 

[BangersAndMash]

Apology after North Korea flag mix-up

26/07/12

London 2012 organisers have apologised to the North Korean Olympic team following an embarrassing mix-up that saw the flag of a rival nation mistakenly displayed at their first sporting event of the Games.

The Press Association: Apology after North Korea flag mix-up