London is bracing itself as the Olympic rush kicks off with an expected record number of passengers arriving at Heathrow airport.
The first wave of tourists, officials and competitors is predicted to see an extra 40,000 people passing through the airport on Monday as the first dedicated Olympic lane opens to transport VIPs into central London.
The influx of Olympic visitors will be the first major test of London's 2012 infrastructure and comes amid growing anxiety about the airport's ability to cope.
An extra 500 border control staff have been drafted in to help ease congestion in immigration halls at Heathrow, but last week John Vine, the chief inspector of borders and immigration, warned that temporary staff processed passengers more slowly while asking fewer questions.
Officials said Heathrow expected to handle 236,955 passengers on Monday – breaking the previous record of 233,562 set on 31 July last year.
The busiest day of the Olympic period is expected to be 24 July, when 1,262 athletes and coaches, and 3,008 other Olympics-related visitors are predicted to arrive.
Nick Cole, the head of Olympic and Paralympic planning at the airport operator BAA, said: "Today heralds the start of Britain's biggest peacetime transport challenge and Heathrow's busiest ever period. The Olympic and Paralympic Games are a marathon, not a sprint, for Heathrow.
"The airport has some major challenges ahead, including unprecedented numbers of departing Olympics passengers and bags on 13 August and Paralympic arrivals and departures in August and September."
More than 500 Heathrow and Locog volunteers, speaking more than 20 languages between them, will welcome Olympic athletes and officials and London 2012 accreditation desks were open at each terminal, allowing "Games family" members – officials and athletes – to collect their documents for the Games on arrival.
The surge of guests comes as the first dedicated Olympic lane opened on Monday morning on a stretch of the M4. There had been fears that work on the damaged flyover near junction 2 of the motorway in west London would not be completed in time. But the affected stretch was reopened three days ago and the Games lane was set to be operational for 3.5 miles between junctions 3 and 2 on the London-bound carriageway between 5am and 10pm from Monday.
The M4 lane is part of a wider Olympic route network (ORN) that will provide exclusive access for members of the "Games family", transporting athletes, officials and equipment between Heathrow and the Olympic village in Stratford, east London. Officials say they expect around 80% of athletes and officials to use the lanes, which critics have said are elitist and will stop Londoners moving freely around the capital.
The ORN network will be fully operational by 25 July – two days before the opening ceremony. Officials say they will be clearly marked and will operate alongside existing traffic. Unaccredited drivers who stray into the lanes face a penalty charge of £130.
