Athens will be ready for Games – traffic permitting
The city of Athens will be ready for the start of the Olympic Games in August – but a poor transport network is still likely to let the side down.
That is the verdict of the International Olympic Committee, which yesterday completed its final inspection of the city before the Games start, in 92 days’ time, on 13 August.
The Times newspaper quotes Denis Oswald, chief IOC overseer, as saying: “I am happy to report that all these doubts have disappeared. No single project is at risk.”
However, the newspaper reports a new tramline and suburban railway are far from being completed, and that “dusty, sand-baked roads in Athens are already gridlocked with drivers furiously honking their horns at fraught, white-gloved traffic policemen”.
The newspaper’s reporter said a seven-mile journey from the Games headquarters to the city centre took some 90 minutes – and that many Athenians are concerned that things will get much worse once the additional Olympic traffic materialises.
The Games are expected to attract 16,000 athletes, 45,000 volunteers, 21,000 journalists – and millions of spectators, The Times reports.
Report by Tim Gillett, News From Abroad
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