Ken Livingstone and Tessa Jowell, Secretary of State for Culture, Media Sport, today launched the first free Athletes’ London Travelcard.
Designed to assist sportspeople in their training the Travelcard will be offered to eight hundred of the UK’s leading sportsmen and women as part of the British Olympic Association’s (BOA) Passport Scheme and provides free travel on mainline rail, buses, trams, the Tube and DLR within London.
Launching the scheme Mayor of London Ken Livingstone said “We want leading UK athletes to have the best possible chance of success in the years leading to 2012. With many of the country’s training facilities based in the capital we hope that the freedom to travel in London will help the country’s top sportspeople to realise their potential”
“Our sportsmen and women are important role models and this scheme will help to encourage more Londoners to choose public transport.”
Echoing the Mayor’s comments Mrs Jowell “Free travel in London will make life easier for top athletes – and let them concentrate on winning medals on the world stage.
This is a fantastic deal and shows how committed we are to making the cream of British Olympic and Paralympic sport the very best in the world.”
The initiative was welcomed by the British Olympic Association’s Chairman Colin Moynihan who said “Partnerships such as this highlight once again the spirit of collaboration between all key stakeholders to assist athletes in the run up to London 2012”.
