Arab News Japan

TOKYO: Tokyo has staged a transportation rehearsal for the Olympic Games involving 80 buses, which departed from the Olympic Village to simulate the transportation of athletes to the Olympic Stadium for the Opening Ceremony.

The rehearsal took place late on June 19 in rainy weather and involved five convoys of 16 buses with each carrying volunteers in place of actual athletes. The volunteers went through entry procedures that the athletes will face next month.

Each group of volunteers had a guide holding a letter of the alphabet corresponding to the number of the convoy. The journey from the Olympic Village to the National Stadium took about 40 minutes and went smoothly, according to Hidemasa Nakamura, Chief of Operations for Tokyo 2020.

Safety measures were also in place, including social distancing, ventilating buses, wearing masks and avoiding congestion.

A senior director of the Transport Bureau for Tokyo 2020 responded to a question from Arab News on counterterrorism measures and replied that all buses are checked when leaving the depot, when passing red lights and upon arrival.

Around the stadium, road traffic was interrupted until 5am to allow only convoys of buses of athletes to pass.  Police managed the flow of vehicles by diverting other traffic along other routes with temporary signage.

According to the organizers, more than 1,500 people participated in this night exercise.