27.07.2012: The world is watching London

Tower Bridge adorned with giant Olympic rings to embrace Games spirit

Only one stop to the Olympics

Up to one million extra people are expected to cram on to the Tube every day during the Olympics, which will be officially starting tomorrow.

London is completely transformed and on the brink of hosting the biggest sport event and has spent £9.3billion preparing for the Games.

A major programme of rehearsals took place few days ago to make sure the capital’s 150-year-old network won’t buckle under the extra workload. Fake queues and diversions tested Tube’s ability to handle crowds and transport bosses declared London is set for this massive event.

However there have been several delays following signal failures on Tubes and trains during the last few weeks.

On Monday Games workers were left stranded after problems on key Tubes and rail routes to the Olympic Parks.

The central line is one of the two principal routes for the Olympics with the Jubilee, connecting London’s heart directly with the Stratford stadium.

There are also locations that will be exceptionally busy during Games times and will become exit-only during the busiest days of the Olympics.

Trains in the London Underground will run later than usual during the next three weeks to make sure spectators and members of the staff can get home.

Both the last trains westbound from the Olympic Park in Stratford and final trains from central London will leave an hour later than usual at 1.30am.

Transport for London is preparing for a huge amount of pressure on trains, buses and roads as crowds leave the opening ceremony at about midnight tomorrow. At least 80,000 people are expected to watch the ceremony live.

For further information on 'public transport hotspots' and 'driving and road changes' visit 

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/gettingaround/london2012/21677.aspx

Greenwich Peninsula is only five minutes away from the Royal Docks

The Emirates Air Line cable car began soaring over the River Thames last Thursday.

The new vehicle makes the one kilometre crossing between Greenwich Peninsula and the Royal Docks while offering passengers the chance to see London from a different angle. It travels at a height of 90 metres.

London Mayor Boris Johnson, who officially unveiled the completed £45million project last week, promised Britain’s first urban cable car will become one of the great sights of London.

The five-minute ride will give visitors view of the Olympic Park, the Canary Wharf financial centre and the Thames Barrier and could be also used to ferry Olympic competitors to the O2, which is hosting gymnastic and basketball.

Up to 2,500 people an hour can be carried in each direction by this system, that has a cable span of 1,100 metres across three helix towers, with 34 cars each holding up to 10 people.

Cable cars arrive at intervals of 30 seconds and visitors climb in as it moves. The journey costs £3.20 or £1.60 for children and passengers can touch in at the gates with their Oyster card.

English kids get into Mandarin

The global supremacy of the English language could be at risk in the near future.

Education secretary Michael Gove is said to be determined to increase the number of pupils taking foreign languages at GCSE by making them mandatory for the first time at primary level.

In fact, learning a foreign language will be compulsory from the age of seven, with Mandarin Chinese, Latin and Greek being added to 2014 timetables.

The action comes just weeks after nearly 40 per cent of schools in UK have declared that the number of students taking foreign languages at GCSEs had increased this year as a direct result of the English Baccalaureate's introduction in 2010.

Mandarin Chinese as a modern foreign language option in UK has received a boost from Mr Gove to compete in a global economy and support economic growth in future. 

He is currently promoting a public debate on the plans before redrafting them for a formal consultation later in 2012.

Meanwhile related Department for Education’s figures revealed that the number of children who do not have English as their mother tongue has increased by about 200,000 since 2007. About one in six pupils from primary schools do not have English as their first language, while in secondaries one in eight students speak another language at home.