Transport bosses say a third of Londoners will have to work from home during next year's Olympic games to avoid chronic overcrowding on the capital's tubes and buses.

Commuters have been told they can expect waits of over half an hour or more for tubes at some of the busiest stations on the Jubilee, Central and Northern lines during the games.

And Transport for London(TfL) claims some of the busiest areas such as Canary Wharf will only be able to cope if 60 percent of workers change their travel plans.

At a presentation last week, TfL urged small and medium-sized businesses to change their working hours or allow staff to work from home to help ease the pressure.

TfL has published a list of the worst hotspots which include Stratford station, London Bridge, Canary Wharf, Canada Water and Bank.

And the Olympics are set to cause chaos on the roads too with the creation of special 'games lanes' likely to bring many main routes to gridlock.

The controversial lanes will be reserved purely for the use of competitors and VIPs. Even buses and taxis will be barred from using them.

Around 5.3 million people are expected to turn up for the 16 days of the London Olympics.

August 3 is expected to be the busiest day with around 800,000 people using public transport.

Organisers fear a repetition of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics which became known as the 'Glitch Games' after transport chaos caused many competitors to miss their events.

London transport commissioner Peter Hendy said he hopes London will copy the Sydney Olympics of 2000 when 27 percent of workers took leave from their jobs.

He told the Observer: 'I am not going to be responsible for a transport mess like Atlanta.'

Earlier this month the Mail reported how tube and train drivers will pocket up to ￡1,800 in return for promising not to go on strike during next summer's event.

MPs condemned the payments as a ‘bribe’ and accused the unions of holding the public to ransom.

(Read by Christine Mallari. Christine Mallari is a journalist at the China Daily Website.)

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(Agencies)