MORE than half the tonnage of materials being used to build London’s 2012 Olympics site is being transported by rail instead of road. The Olympic authority was aiming for 50 per cent in its target. But new figures out today show around 57 per cent are being made by rail.

By Mike Brooke

MORE than half the tonnage of materials being used to build London’s 2012 Olympics site is being transported by rail instead of road.

Contractors are also soon to start using the River Lea to transport construction materials in and out of the site.

The Olympics authority is beating its targets for keeping supplies off the congested roads of East London.

It was aiming for 50 per cent in its target published two years ago.

TARGET BEATEN

But new figures out today (Monday) show around 57 per cent is being made by rail alone—and that’s without the waterways.

“We are aware of the increased difficulty maintaining this record,” admitted the authority’s chief, David Higgins. “As construction ramps up, the number of deliveries increases.

“But switching deliveries to the railways has reduced road traffic and pollution in the area.”

The rail sidings on the site itself are where thousands of tonnes of bulk aggregate for concrete production are delivered every day.

Added to this is the dredging that begins next month of the nearby tributaries of the River Lea alongside the Olympics park between Bow and Hackney Wick. These have slowly silted up in past decades, but contractors hope to use them for 350-tonne barges by the summer.