Athens will be ready, assure officials

Last updated at 12:53 23 October 2003


Officials in Athens have been forced to reassure the International Olympic Committee (IOC) about progress for next summer's games after concerns were raised over transport in the city.

With less than a year to go, IOC inspectors are in town to check on preparations. Experts have already warned that the expected quarter of a million visitors could be left stranded by poor connections.

Athens' chief organiser Gianna Angelopolous has been quoted as saying: 'We are as worried over this as the International Olympic Committee is. In any case we have to have an alternative that can solve this problem.'

Attention has so far been focused on a new tram line and suburban railway that will link key Olympic venues with southern Athens and the international airport.

The new links have fallen behind schedule because of insufficient environmental studies and a redrawing of a central Athens line to avoid damages to antiquities.

However, the official line is very much that progress is running smoothly and that both projects will be ready by March.

'We showed them the progress of our work up to now and we made it very clear that both these projects will be ready on time,' reassured one senior government official. 'There is absolutely no doubt about that.'

IOC inspectors have toured all venues to get a clear picture on progress, including the construction of a roof for the Olympic stadium that organisers want to be the Games' landmark and a soccer stadium that is still being built.

The IOC has hesitantly accepted organisers' new timetable for the ambitious arched steel-and-glass roof but has again expressed concern the project may hamper other crucial work around the Olympic stadium.

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