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4000 cars stand in way of ‘Green Games’
The 2012 London Olympics is being promoted as the “greenest” Olympic Games in history but a row has erupted after it emerged that thousands of VIPs will travel to events here during the sporting extravaganza in a rather more luxurious style.
The 2012 London Olympics is being promoted as the “greenest” Olympic Games in history but a row has erupted after it emerged that thousands of VIPs will travel to events here during the sporting extravaganza in a rather more luxurious style.
BMW is to ship 4,000 brand-new luxury vehicles in from Germany to escort dignitaries and officials in a move described as “lunatic” by critics, The Daily Mail reported.
The enormous fleet will include more than 3,000 BMW 3 and 5 Series saloons. Parked end to end, this would equate to a ten-mile tailback.
“Most of the athletes will be staying in the Olympic Village and won’t need to travel to events, so the BMWs are really for the politicians and dignitaries.
“Four thousand vehicles seems lunatic when we have such a good public transport system. I can understand a few officials need secure transport but 4,000? Shipping new cars in from Germany is also extremely bad news for the environment,” Jenny Jones, a member of the London Assembly for the Green Party was quoted as saying by the daily.
Caroline Pidgeon, who chairs the London Assembly Transport Committee, said the BMW fleet went against the ethos of the Games.
She said: “As we were promised that the 2012 Games would be the greenest Olympics ever to take place, only electric vehicles should have been considered. They are not only quieter, but far less harmful to people’s lungs.
“The 2012 Games should have been a big boost to the growth of electric vehicles in the UK, but instead we have vehicles which merely add to London’s serious air pollution.”
BMW has donated the fleet as part of its sponsorship deal with London 2012. The firm will sell the cars after the Games on the second-hand market.
