Contractor Mace begins full testing on 拢50m project
London鈥檚 cable car project in the east end of the city may not open before the Olympics.
Design-and-build contractor Mace began full testing of the 拢50m project yesterday, with all 34 cabins making the round trip over the Thames between the O2 and Excel centres.
However, Transport for London is unable to confirm whether or not the river crossing will be open in time for the Games and instead reiterated its commitment to a 鈥渟ummer deadline鈥�.
TfL鈥檚 position suggests the cable cars could open in August, after the Olympic opening ceremony on 27 July.
A spokesperson for the project told the BBC: 鈥淲e鈥檒l be open this summer, whether it鈥檚 before the Olympics or not is something that we鈥檙e working on.Clearly we have plans if it is but at this moment in time we鈥檙e not planning for it to be open.鈥�
The cable car project was not part of the Olympic transport plan, but both the O2 and Excel centres are staging several Olympic events.
The O2 is staging gymnastics, trampoline and basketball events while the Excel will host boxing, fencing, judo, table tennis, taekwondo, wrestling and weightlifting contests.
Trips to the other side of the Thames will last about five minutes. It will be capable of carrying 2,500 people every hour in each direction.
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