People have been flocking to London for days to pay their last respects to the Queen. The major event demands an organizational tour de force from the responsible authorities.
London – The British capital is gearing up for a logistical peak performance: the Transport for London (TfL) authority is expecting around one million visitors to the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II on Monday. Their boss Andy Byford told the PA news agency: “We are prepared for one of the busiest days Transport for London has ever seen. It’s difficult to say exactly how many more people will travel, but we’re anticipating a potential one million people.”
Employees from all parts of the organization worked to ensure that visitors could get around the city. The state funeral begins Monday at 12:00 p.m. (CEST) at Westminster Abbey.
The chairman of the rail network operator Network Rail, Peter Hendy, warned of “extremely busy” trains. “This is the largest deployment in public transport since the Olympic and Paralympic Games in London in 2012.” They work closely with all train operators.
According to the information, around 250 additional train connections will operate on Monday – including some night trains. Planned motorway closures across England are also being suspended to minimize the risk of congestion on the transport network on Monday afternoon when visitors leave the capital. dpa
