Shadow transport secretary Tim Collins MP

The government does not believe London can win its bid for the 2012 Olympic Games, the Conservatives have claimed.

Tim Collins said ministers would be showing a greater determination to tackle London's infrastructure if they believed the UK bid was in with a chance.

"I think if the government thought that they had a realistic chance of winning, they would be moving in a more determined and speedy manner," the shadow transport secretary told ePolitix.com.

"I get the sense...that the government are slightly going through the motions as far as the Olympics bid is concerned and they feel that, following the Picketts Lock fiasco, the international sporting world are very unlikely...to award the Olympics to London."

The failure to commit to completing the Crossrail project by 2012 was evidence of the government's Olympic doubts, said Collins.

"I think we all regrettably but inevitably accept the very firm view which has been expressed by the government, that they see no possibility of Crossrail being ready in time for the Olympic games in 2012," he said

"I fear given what transpired this week...that Alistair Darling has not in fact given a clear green light to Crossrail at all, that there is no chance of that being ready by 2012."

"Other than that, clearly the priority is to try to upgrade other parts of the transport infrastructure, notably the tube, obviously, and the road network.

"And it is not yet at all clear that sufficient grip has been applied to it."