Op-Ed Contributors

London 'Tube' a test for Olympic organizers

By Zhang Haizhou (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-09-09 08:02

I have dozens of reasons to love this city: spectacular river views, free museums, the best theaters, top football matches, countless cultural events, etc., you name it.

But I have at least one reason to hate it - the London underground, or the "Tube" as it is more familiarly known.

Less than two years before the next Olympic Games open here, I, an expatriate from the last Olympic city, think upgrading the city's subway system should be a priority.

Overcrowding, overheating and antiquated signaling systems make the Tube woefully inadequate to serve a city the size of London. What's worse, visitors in the summer of 2012 may even be affected by strikes, as has happened this week.

"The underground can be the best part of London, if it runs smoothly; but it's also the worst, as it can't do so for most of the time," a commuter standing next to me said, when we were both heading to work in an overcrowded bus Tuesday morning.

This week's Tube strike began on Monday afternoon with a walkout of 800 maintenance workers at 5 pm, followed by drivers, station staff and signalers at 9 pm.

As few trains ran on Tuesday, hundreds of thousands of commuters, including me, took to bikes, scooters, buses, and cars.

The 24-hour strike caused major disruption across the British capital's transport system with delays lasting well into Wednesday morning.

The increased number of buses, taxis and cars meant roads across London were gridlocked from the early hours of Tuesday. Commuters fought over hire bikes, introduced by Mayor Boris Johnson more than a month ago, forcing police to monitor docking stations.