With the London Underground criticised this week for low performance by the London Assembly, British confidence in the Tube’s ability to cope ahead of the Olympics is also taking a battering.
mxData, creator of Tube Map app, carried out researched with 2,628 people who use the Tube on a regular basis and found that 54% are worried that London’s underground system won’t be able to cope with the Olympic games.
With 17% offering no opinion, this leaves just 29% confident that the Underground will be able to manage with the increased number of visitors.
David James, CEO of mxData, commented:
“When the Tube runs smoothly, it is an extremely fast, efficient way of getting across London and is the envy of many a city. However, far too often there are severe delays to the lines due to faulty equipment and overrunning engineering works.
“It could be pretty embarrassing if millions of Olympic seats are left empty because its would-be occupants are stuck in a tunnel somewhere under the city.
“Some good news is that the Underground’s train drivers are set to receive an additional £500 for working during the games, which increases the likelihood of services running smoothly for London’s regular commuters and visitors alike.”
The drivers get £500 to do their contracted job during the Olympics, that equates to the amount of money I will have wasted on my season ticket for keeping out of London during the Olympics. I am finding it difficult to fund my season ticket each year out of my salary which has barely risen in the last 4 years. The government wants us to spend to beat the recession, I have less and less money with which to do so.