How will millions of people get to the Olympics on time?

I was excited to discover that there’s going to be an official Olympics canal boat, and there will even be another water-based (but much nippier) option with the official river boats.

But rather more important than these are the train, Tube, coach and park and ride options.

London public transport: it’ll get you there… eventually

The good news is that you get a Zones 1 to 9 Games London Travelcard with your Olympic tickets. So any form of transport within Greater London is covered ticket-wise.

The not-so-good news is the talk of needing to allow an hour just to get into a central London Tube station at peak times during the Games. And the official advice is to allow the same time from your point of arrival at the Olympic Park to the venue itself. Blimey.

But then the organising committee says the Olympics are the equivalent of Wimbledon, a meeting of the G20 and two FA Cup finals all happening in London on each day of the Games. That puts the task at hand into perspective.

Train: on the right track

The official train website is a bit clunky to use, and there are some glitches – but in general it looks like a serious attempt to do something different in a good way. What I mean is that there are fewer ticket types and simpler rules – what a shame it isn’t always like this.

There are two ticket types for journeys to Olympic venues, whether in London or in the Co-Host cities around Britain: Games Day and Advance.

Games Day tickets are the most flexible – they’re valid anytime on the day and up to midday the following day, but they’re non-refundable. You can buy them for the days either side of your event, too, and break your journey.

Confusingly (well, we are talking about train tickets), Advance tickets aren’t the same as the Advance type of ticket you normally get. They’re only valid on the trains you choose, but the difference comes if you’re delayed – you can use them to travel on trains up to three hours after your booked one.

You can also make one change free of charge, unlike normal Advance tickets, and there are free changes if the event is rescheduled. They too can be bought for days either side, but no break of journey is allowed. They’re also non-refundable.

We found them to be good value – often very close in price to more restrictive normal tickets, with some even cheaper than their normal equivalents, despite the more generous rules.

Other options: will it be a sprint or a slow coach?

All coach services to the Olympic Park will cost between £20-£50, and there’s a £2.50 booking fee to watch out for.

So how do prices compare to normal? You can generally get cheaper coach fares to London, depending on where you’re coming from. You can even book these now for July 2012. But although you can get to London Stratford directly normally with some operators, those fares won’t take you to the Olympic Park itself.

There are park and ride facilities ringed around the Olympic Park, as well as for the Windsor venue, ExCeL exhibition centre, Greenwich, Hadleigh Wood, Lee Valley and Weymouth, which will cost £10 or £14.

So, have Olympic organisers done enough to ensure crowds arrive on time? Will any of these options suit you or are you planning to get there a different way?