Olympics to test London's subway_美文_趣味英语-查字典英语网

Olympics to test London's subway

Download

Fears are mounting over the ability of London's subway system to handle crowds during the Olympics, which will begin next month. Overcrowding, overheating and antiquated signaling systems make the subway woefully inadequate to serve a city the size of London.

The subway system had just three problem-free weekdays last year, the Daily Telegraph reported.

The biggest concern is the Jubilee Line, a key Olympic artery linking the main stadium in Stratford and Wembley Stadium through central London.

A meltdown on the line two weeks ago saw passengers being taken off a train and walked through a tunnel to safety.

More than 500,000 "customer hours" were lost on the Jubilee line due to track, train and signal failures last year, according to Transport for London's own statistics.

As the oldest underground railway in the world, the total length of all 11 lines of the London Underground, which opened in 1863, is more than 402 kilometers. It carries more than 3.04million people a day, according to the TFL's Annual Report and Statement of Accounts.

TFL expects about a million extra visitors in London during the Games, leading to 3 million extra public transport journeys each day.

It has also warned on its website that the Jubilee Line will be "exceptionally busy, particularly in the morning and evening peaks", as spectators travel to and from the Olympic Park in Stratford, North Greenwich Arena and Wembley Stadium and Arena.