Sebastian Coe, the chairman of London 2012, claimed it symbolises the long-term regeneration the Games is bringing to the area and transforming the skyline of East London for good.

 

The two-year powerlines construction project has seen two six kilometre tunnels built beneath the Olympic Park, enabling the power needed for the Games and legacy developments to be carried underground.

 

The final phase of the powerlines project started today on schedule with the removal of the overhead pylons, each up to 60 metres high, which run through the centre of the Olympic Park site, stretching from Hackney to West Ham.

 

Coe, Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) chief executive David Higgins, Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell, National Grid executive director Nick Winser and EDF Energy chief executive Vincent de Rivaz visited the Olympic Park site today to view the first overhead powerlines pylon being removed.

 

Coe said: “This is an exciting moment, and is a symbol of change for good.

 

"This is a great example of how an Olympic and Paralympic Games can help revitalise and regenerate a city.

 

"I congratulate my colleagues at the ODA for delivering this huge project on schedule.

 

"Already the landscape of the Olympic Park is changing as sports stadia take shape.

 

"The skyline will soon be transformed for good leading to a new urban sporting park ready to welcome the world in 2012 and beyond.”

 

Higgins said: “Removing the overhead pylons from the Olympic Park site is a symbol of the huge change the Games is bringing to East London.

 

"With the pylons coming down and the Olympic Stadium steel going up we are transforming the skyline of the Lower Lea Valley for good.

 

“The powerlines project has been hugely challenging but the completion of the underground tunnels has been done on time and to budget and I congratulate the team for this achievement.

 

“The pylons in the Olympic Park will all be down by the end of the year, unlocking the area for the development of new homes, world-class sports venues and essential infrastructure.”

 

Jowell said: “The opportunity to regenerate the Lower Lea Valley is one of the principal reasons why we bid to host the Games in the first place.

 

“This £250 million project to dismantle and place the powerlines underground - on budget and on time - is graphic and tangible evidence of our delivering on that promise.”

 

Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: "For as long as I can remember the first thing that strikes you as you travel further to the east of town are these ugly structures dominating the skyline and blighting the area. 

 

"Their removal, on time and on budget once again, is the clearest sign yet of how the investment in the Olympics is bringing with it the promised regeneration legacy of the future - freeing up and cleaning up land for development after the Games and putting in first class infrastructure that will all bring new jobs, new homes and new opportunities to people in east London ."

 

Tom Russell, the group director for Olympic Legacy at the London Development Agency (LDA), said:  "The vision of the 2012 Games being a unique catalyst to change the landscape of East London was the reason the LDA started the powerlines project when London made its Olympic bid back in 2005.

 

"We are delighted that three years later, the Olympic Park site has been assembled, the land is being cleaned up and a foundation of new infrastructure is being laid in order to breathe new life into this part of London .

 

"We are currently planning the homes, workspace, schools, health and other facilities that will be built on the Olympic Park site after the Games.

 

"This legacy development will run over decades and the LDA is working with our Olympic partners now to ensure that London is left with the best possible platform for the creation of wider investment and further regeneration opportunities after the Games."

 

Winser said: "The innovation shown by National Grid has enabled the ODA to start work on the Olympic Park ahead of schedule and this has been a fantastic team effort from all the organisations involved in the powerlines undergrounding project."

 

de Rivaz said: “As the first London 2012 sustainability partner and energy utilities partner we are proud to be playing a key role in helping to deliver what will be a truly sustainable Games and ensuring that come 2012, the organisers have a resilient supply of electricity.

 

“This complicated project has been completed in half the normal time for one of this scale and has also set the bench mark for safe performance for all future Olympic Park construction projects.”

 

The powerlines project was started by the LDA in 2005 ahead of London 's successful bid to host the 2012 Games.

 

It was then handed over to be managed by the ODA working with the LDA as well as EDF Energy and National Grid, the companies that own and operate the overhead lines.