London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics

The 2012 Olympics will take place in a host of new venues as well as using existing and historic facilities. Many of the new facilities will be reused and the plans are part of the regeneration of Stratford and Lower Lea Valley in east London.

This will be the third time London has hosted the games having also done so in 1908 and 1948.

Hosting both the London 2012 Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games will be a huge boost to the whole of the UK and for the Northwest, particularly through opportunities linked to hosting the football tournament at Old Trafford.

Preparations are now well under way for the Games. The 2008 Olympics officially closed in Beijing and the mantle was passed to London as Host for London Olympics 2012, amidst much celebration.

Olympics Aims London's Lord Mayor Boris Johnson wants the London 2012 Olympics to be much more fun than those in Beijing. He wants to create a "party atmosphere" and wants the London 2012 Olympics to excel in a different way. There are plans to use the whole of the city to create a fantastic atmosphere.
It is his intention that central London will be the place where people come to hang out and spend their money before they go to the various Olympic sites around London, thus creating a party and festival atmosphere.

All of the transport improvements planned for the 2012 Olympic Games are ones London needs anyway, the Games will simply make sure these things happen faster. Londoners will benefit from a range of improvements that are every bit as useful to London’s everyday life as they are to the running of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.