Tube officials publish London Olympic travel map

LONDON - Don't say we didn't tell you.

London transit officials released more data Monday on which underground subway and rail stations will be the busiest during this summer's London Olympics and Paralympics, hoping that city's beleaguered commuters might tweak their travel patterns to ease congestion.

The information is all part of a huge push to get travelers to switch to less crowded routes, to work from home, or to walk to nearby stations that might be less busy.

London Bridge, Waterloo and Bank are expected to see a crush of travelers throughout the July 27-August 12 games, while other sites like Earl's Court will be exceptionally busy only on certain days.

"The people we need to reach are the people who can modify their behavior," said Vernon Everitt, Transport for London's director of marketing.

London's transport system must work, and work well, if the games are to be considered a success. On any given day, the creaking network already handles 12 million trips. The Olympics is estimated to add 3 million extra trips on busy days.

As for tourists, transport officials plan to flood the zone with volunteers and customer service agents to guide them through the London transport maze. The volunteers will being wearing high-profile magenta, the color of all the signs offering directions.

City transport leaders have rejected fears that London's transport systems will lurch into chaos during the Olympics, spending 8.8 million pounds ($13.3 million) to make people aware of the problems and offer advice on what to do.

Another 6.5 billion pounds ($10.2 billion) has also been invested in making trains faster and more comfortable.

For those trying to plan, the www.getaheadofthegames.com site has an interactive map that shows big red circles around the busiest stations and explanations of the busiest times.