The Hindu : Sport / Olympic Games : Media being taken for a ride, literally

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Aug 16, 2004

Sport

Sport - Olympic Games

Media being taken for a ride, literally

By Our Special Correspondent

ATHENS, AUG. 15. The ride in the joy trains at the Olympic villages is increasingly proving to be an agonising experience for the media, for it is not able to reach anywhere on time.

To cover a distance that would perhaps take five minutes by car, the media personnel travel for about 30 minutes, through various sections of the village, when they are hard pressed for time to rush to the various venues.

Late into the night when you return after a hectic day, the train stops at times about 400 metres away, and the driver asks you to just take a walk.

Maybe, he is just considerate, and wants you to reach your room faster, which is easily done by foot rather than by his train.

Of course, they can just walk to the bus station in the morning, but the distance is quite a bit and the village is a maze, without clear markings to guide the people.

On top of it all, the media buses do not ply on time. It was particularly difficult on the morning after the Opening Ceremony, when the media buses did not turn up to take the journalists and photographers from their village to the main press centre and some of the competition venues.

When you tell the people concerned and get a van after much persuasion and long wait, the vehicle ends up taking you round the town, as the driver is confused and does not have clear guidance to take the media in time to the venue, the shooting centre in this case.

On Sunday, the driver of our bus lost his way while trying to reach the main press centre.

He got into narrow lanes and it was a huge task before he could wriggle out and take the right course. Some of the fellow passengers had started ringing up people to convey their plight.

Moreover, the buses operate with such haphazard timings, that it is literally impossible to catch the right bus at the right time to go to the right venue.

And when you reach a bus just 10 metres away, there is no volunteer near it to see you and help you get in, even when the bus is empty. The next bus may be 30 minutes later, but who cares.

There were Greek organisers present during the Commonwealth Games in Manchester two years ago, to study everything.

Apparently, they have forgotten the basics of the transport system that is required for such a massive operation as the Olympic Games. Smaller buses with accurate timing and better frequency could solve the problem.

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