London 2012 Olympics - Bus to Beijing

In late 2007, Max Adventure were contracted to plan and implement an idea that been thought up by the Ceremonies Team for the London 2012 Olympics. In addition to their 2012 duties, they were responsible for the Hand-Over Ceremony, when London officially becomes the host city for the next Olympic Games.

The Hand-Over Ceremony, was to be only 8 minutes in length, so London's opportunity to showcase to the world what the next Olympics would have in store, was very short. They very cleverly came up with an idea to draw attention to this ceremony by making it 3 months and 8 minutes long!

Their idea was to drive a red double-decker bus from London, all the way to Beijing to take part in the ceremony.

On 1st February 2008, London 2012 and TfL today announced that they were seeking London bus drivers to undertake the journey of a lifetime. To mark the Beijing Olympic Games and Paralympic Games of 2008 and celebrate the Games then coming to London in 2012, the London bus would travel from Trafalgar Square to Beijing – driven by genuine London bus drivers.

Led and co-ordinated by Mac Mackenney, the bus was to have a dedicated support vehicle supplied by Dragoman Overland and the journey was planned to last approximately three months. The bus was to leave London in June, before travelling across Europe, through Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan, then heading across the Caspian Sea by ferry. The bus would then pass through Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, reaching China before the Olympic Flag was handed to London at the closing ceremony of the Beijing 2008, marking the start of London’s Olympiad. The bus, built by British manufacturer Alexander Dennis, was to be an Enviro 400, which is the latest bus used by Transport for London.

Recruiting posters were displayed at garages of most of the London bus operators to advertise the opportunity to bus drivers, with the aim to recruit 8 drivers who would split into two teams, each driving half the route, with four reserves. Over 1,000 drivers applied and each participating bus company was asked to short-list applications and submit up to 10 suitable applicants to move forward to the next stage of selection. Following an intensive selection weekend of sleep deprivation, Arctic conditions and challenging tasks, Max Adventure chose the final 12 applicants.

London 2012 Director of Culture, Ceremonies and Education, Bill Morris outlined the thinking behind the journey, “The journey will celebrate the burgeoning relationship between London and Beijing and the iconic image of a London bus travelling across the world to the Games is a powerful symbol as we prepare to welcome the world to our city in 2012.”

TfL said, “The Bus to Beijing project is an extraordinary opportunity for London to showcase and celebrate its world class transport system, through a globally recognised icon of the city. To have serving London bus drivers at the wheel is fantastic – I’m sure they will prove to be excellent ambassadors for the city and for London 2012”

Unfortunately, Boris Johnson, the new London Mayor was elected and the project was shelved with just 2 weeks to go before departure. It was a bitter blow to the 12 bus drivers who had worked and trained so hard to get down to the final cut.

As a small consolation, Max Adventure challenged the bus drivers to complete the 3 Peaks Challenge of climbing Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon in 24 hours. The twist though was to use a double-decker bus to drive the 450 miles between mountains!

Bus to Bejing News