OLYMPIC athletes and VIPs will be able to speed along a network of dedicated lanes on London’s busiest roads under plans to prevent congestion from ruining the 2012 Games if they are held in the city.

The 55,000 members of the “Olympic family”, including 10,000 coporate sponsors, will be allowed to sweep past traffic like Politburo cavalcades on Moscow’s Zil lanes.

Cameras similar to those used to enforce the Central London congestion charge would be deployed along the route to catch any unauthorised driver who dares to stray into the “Olympic VIP Routes”.

Up to 2,000 minibuses and limousines would be equipped with the “green wave” technology used by emergency vehicles to change traffic lights to green as they approach.

The principal VIP route would run across the centre of the city from Hyde Park, via the Embankment to the Olympic village and stadium at Stratford in East London.

The maximum journey time for the chosen few will be 30 minutes, compared with well over an hour at present during congested periods. Other drivers will experience chaos as they are funnelled into the remaining lanes.

Several more VIP routes, which will usually occupy the outside lane and may be painted a different colour, will branch off to other Olympic venues, including Wembley, Wimbledon and Lord’s.

The routes are designed to avoid the chaos which marred the Atlanta Games in 1996, when events were delayed as athletes became stuck in traffic.

The International Olympic Committee strongly criticised London’s transport network this week when it included the capital in the shortlist of five cities.

The IOC report said: “Rail public transport is often obsolete and considerable investments must be made to upgrade the existing system in terms of capacity and safety. Urban expressways and main arterial road facilities lack the capacity to provide reasonable travel times and speed.”

The IOC was sceptical of the journey times estimated by the London 2012 bid team. The report said: “With the exception of Olympic Park and some venues in East London, the average travel distances are among the longest of all applicant cities.

“In addition, the assumed average bus travel speeds of 55km/h (34mph) appear unrealistic.”

But Hugh Sumner, director of Olympic transport strategy at Transport for London (TfL), said the athletes would be spared delays because VIP routes would be strictly enforced.

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