East Coast is urging travellers planning a trip to next year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games events in London, Newcastle and Glasgow to plan ahead and take advantage of special travel packages and extra train services.
Train operators including East Coast have been working with the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) to offer spectators travelling to the Olympic and Paralympic sporting venues an unprecedented chance to buy train tickets a full year in advance, allowing them to plan their travel as soon as they have their sports event tickets.
2012 Games train fares, which will be able to be purchased through a dedicated website or on a special telephone number, will go on sale shortly after customers are notified what event tickets they have been allocated in June. Spectators must travel with their Games sporting ticket for the 2012 Games train fare ticket to be valid.
The tickets will be competitively priced. Discounts, such as the standard 50 per cent child reduction, and discounts available to national Railcard holders, will be available.
The travel packages have been designed to be flexible, to enable spectators to change the time they return should an event be unexpectedly rescheduled – or if they simply choose to remain longer.
East Coast is also planning to add extra services and seats to take spectators to and from the Games events, especially those staged in London. Additional services starting earlier and finishing later will be provided from stations in Yorkshire and the North East, giving spectators time to enjoy the events and travel home afterwards.
East Coast’s Commercial Director Peter Williams said: “The Games will be an amazing and exciting series of events, and the best way to be a part of it will be to travel by train.
“We are already putting a lot of planning effort into ensuring that our services run smoothly and take many thousands of spectators safely and comfortably to and from the Games.”
A special Games train timetable, developed by train operators including East Coast, and Network Rail, will be announced prior to train tickets going on sale in June. Network Rail has suspended all improvement works on rail routes serving Games venues for almost three months in Summer 2012, starting four weeks prior to the Games through until the end of the competition.
Ticketed spectators travelling to London will also be given a Games Travelcard with their London sports event ticket, allowing them to reach their destination venue via National Rail or Transport for London services.
East Coast and other train operators have been working hard for months alongside Network Rail and the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) to create a rail ticket to the Games which allows advance booking up to a year ahead, plus flexible travel conditions.
Lord Sebastian Coe, Chair of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG), said: “London 2012 is a Games for the whole nation, and we want as many people as possible from all around the country to get to the Games. With Olympic and Paralympic Games tickets on sale to the public from 15 March to 26 April, these new 2012 Games train fares from Britain’s train companies will help spectators plan their Games”.
