APPENDIX 29
Supplementary Memorandum
submitted by the Department of the Environment,Transport and the
Regions
When I gave evidence to your Committee on 16 June
on access to the Millennium Experience, there were a number of
points which I undertook to pursue and write to you about.
First, you pressed me to look further at the possibility
of an express bus service from central London to the Dome. My
officials have pursued this further with London Transport (LT).
LT have confirmed that the journey time from Green Park to the
Dome would be between 15 and 17 minutes via the Jubilee Line Extension
(JLE). For a stopping bus service, the same journey would take
an average of 45 minutes, but there would be very considerable
variations according to the time of day and traffic conditions.
It could easily take as little as 30 minutes or as much as 60
minutes. An express bus service would be a little faster than
a stopping bus service, but this advantage is largely offset by
the fact that express services are more difficult for passengers
to access. LT have assessed routes both north and south of the
Thames. They are confident that it is not possible for a bur service
to compete with the JLE in terms of journey time. To that extent,
they endorse what Lord Levene, Mark Lambirth and I said in evidence
to the Committee. However, they have pointed out that a bus service
might be attractive to visitors to London, who wanted to see something
of the city en route to the Dome. In this market, the bus
would face serious competition from the new Thames 2000 river
service. The majority of visitor attractions between central London
and the Dome are probably better seen from the river than from
a bus, but there are a few exceptions, and there may be people
would want to make the outward trip by boat and the return trip
by bus or vice versa. Although LT would not wish to operate
such a service themselves, they understand that there are commercial
operators who are exploring the possibility.
Second, I undertook to see what lessons can be learned
from other major events. The Seville and Hanover events, both
mentioned when I appeared before the Committee, are both on a
much larger scale than the Millennium Experience. Hanover expects
to cater for about 40 million visitors, whilst Seville attracted
about 30 million. Even the Lisbon event is on a slightly larger
scale than the Millennium Experience. Lisbon expects to attract
about 15 million over a five-month period, compared with the Millennium
Experience's 12 million visitors over a full year. Nevertheless,
there may be useful lessons to be learned. Officials have established
contact with the Portuguese Expo office, and are seeking to obtain
information from them. I have asked them to liaise with the Clerk
to the Committee to ensure that any useful lessons are drawn to
your attention.
Third, I undertook to clarify the position on access
for the disabled. To deal first with the factual question, which
I was unable to answer when I appeared before you, it is NMEC's
intention to provide 385 parking spaces for Orange Badge holders.
They have the capacity to make additional spaces available for
either Orange Badge holders or Blue Badge holders, if the demand
is there. Although NMEC are confident that they will have the
capacity to accommodate disabled drivers who wish to travel by
car, they are also keen to encourage wheelchair users to travel
by public transport rather than by car. They are well-placed to
do this. They will have coach bays which provide for access by
wheelchair via platform and ramp. The Millennium Transit bus service
in and from the Dome will be fully wheelchair accessible. Most
importantly, the North Greenwich station—like the rest of
the JLE—will be fully wheelchair accessible too. I think
this represents a major, and well-deserved victory for disabled
transport users in London, who have lobbied very hard to secure
wheelchair access to new tube lines and stations. Having secured
this excellent facility, I very much hope that they will use it.
I hope I have not overlooked anything. If I have,
please do not hesitate to let me know.
Glenda Jackson
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