Inconsistent escalator standing side in stations

[Bald Rick]

Ive definitely seen stand on the left signs at Glasgow Central. I assumed it was simply to be opposite to the situation in London.

At Birmingham New St, it appears to be ‘stand anywhere you loike’

 

[Mag_seven]

Airports are a pain particularly if you are in a hurry as even if people stand on the "correct" side their luggage often takes up the entire width making it difficult to get past.

 

[AM9]

Airports are a pain particularly if you are in a hurry as even if people stand on the "correct" side their luggage often takes up the entire width making it difficult to get past.

If. I'm in that much of a hurry and the travelator is carrying standing users then there's the option of bypassing the travelator, and walking as fast as I like. Trying to force others to walk on travelators is as bad as forcing them to walk up escalators.

 

[lachlan]

They still are, aren't they? Like this I mean... I see the 'up' risers have arrows, and not 'KEEP LEFT' as I said before

View attachment 192606

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Like the old joke - 'Crossing yourself? No, just checking I still have spectacles, testicles, wallet, watch.'

Yes this is the current setup. The stairs to the station concourse were changed earlier this year to match this format. Previously, the stairs nearest the ticket gates were down only and this was routinely ignored.

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It would be good if other cities adopted the London approach, maybe a bit more relaxed but there should always be an option to walk up/down an escalator free of needing to say excuse me or ask people to get past, especially if its a long one.

One of the only positives about London commuting is how efficient it is.

Are you sure that leaving one side free for walking is more efficient?

In my experience, the overall capacity is reduced as people queue at the bottom of the escalator for a space on the right. This would be reduced if they could stand on both sides

 

[takno]

Right handed people will generally want to use their right hand if they wish to steady themsleves on the handrail

If they're using their right hand to steady themselves how do they operate their mobile phone?

 

[The exile]

They still are, aren't they? Like this I mean... I see the 'up' risers have arrows, and not 'KEEP LEFT' as I said before
View attachment 192606

No - as in the entire staircase in the photo would have been either “up” or “down”. I think it only applied to the ones to/from platforms 3/4
See Lachlan has already clarified this.

 

[Cherry_Picker]

Standing on the right in London is a bit strange, but very well established.

It came from earlier designs of escalators which had a diagonal 'shunt' feature at the end which prevented clothing from being snagged by moving parts, a problem which has been iterated and improved on multiple times since with newer designs but the convention persists.

Excerpt from a YouTube video about escalator designs (the whole video is 20 minutes long and surprisingly entertaining)

2009 article from The Times citing a restored film shot on the Underground in the 1920s

 

[172007]

Bimingham Snow Hill is Stand right and the commuters do. Other times of the day is hit and miss.

You always get one person who warbles on about "Actually escalators are not designed for walking on.......... so you should't".

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Right handed people will generally want to use their right hand if they wish to steady themsleves on the handrail

I'm right handed and generally use my left hand on handrails and bannisters...

 

[Railcar]

On the London Underground escalators, a dog is a necessity. Signs at the top say 'Dogs must be carried'

 

[duffield]

On the London Underground escalators, a dog is a necessity. Signs at the top say 'Dogs must be carried'

No problem, if queried I just say "I have a tiny Shih Tzu puppy asleep in my bag, and no, you may not disturb him!"

 

[sheff1]

Leeds is stand on the right. But then...

The other week I was on the right and the two guys in front of me moved from the right to the left... because all the people in front of them were on the left. Then they saw the sign and moved back to the right. No-one was running up the escalator (don't get me started...) so it was all good. But very confusing that so many people all chose to stand on the left at the same time.

It's Yorkshire "I'll stand where I bloody well like".

No escalators at Sheffield, but some of the stairs are signed for left and right - routinely ignored, including by staff.

 

[Pit_buzzer]

No escalators at Sheffield, but some of the stairs are signed for left and right - routinely ignored, including by staff.

And contradicted by the overhead signs on at least one staircase which says way out above the no entry signs on the step risers

 

[William3000]

It would be good if other cities adopted the London approach, maybe a bit more relaxed but there should always be an option to walk up/down an escalator free of needing to say excuse me or ask people to get past, especially if its a long one.

One of the only positives about London commuting is how efficient it is.


That is true as IIRC Glasgow Central was 'stand on the right' in 2019. They also have that silly one way system in place still on the low level, meaning you have to use escalators to go down rather than regular stairs, and one of the quickest entrances on the street is exit only.

I have mentioned the Glasgow Central stand on left thing a few times before but Scotrail said that there is no particular reason why it's like that. I still think it changed after covid.

It’s actually really inefficient - since about 85% of people don’t walk - it would be far more efficient to dispense with the convention

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As someone who doesn’t have the best balance, and is right handed, I will generally naturally use the right hand side of any escalator or stairway.

Either way the practice of effectively only using half the capacity of the escalator by only having one person per step leaving the other for the odd person in a rush walking up always feels inefficient to me!

It is

 

[mmh]

It’s actually really inefficient - since about 85% of people don’t walk - it would be far more efficient to dispense with the convention

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It is

About 10 years ago signs were tried at Holborn station telling people to stand on both sides (no walking) for this very reason - at morning rush hour the limited circulation space at the bottom of the escalators would be very overcrowded with people waiting to stand on the right.

 

[zero]

It’s actually really inefficient - since about 85% of people don’t walk - it would be far more efficient to dispense with the convention

About 10 years ago signs were tried at Holborn station telling people to stand on both sides (no walking) for this very reason - at morning rush hour the limited circulation space at the bottom of the escalators would be very overcrowded with people waiting to stand on the right.

If efficiency is solely concerned with the rate of people moving, then yes, if everyone stands and nobody walks, on average people get to the top more quickly. But this leads to lower overall satisfaction because people choosing to stand are less likely to care about how long their escalator ride takes, while people who choose to walk have increased frustration.

 

[paulmch]

At Birmingham New St, it appears to be ‘stand anywhere you loike’

In my experience the escalators are so congested (while the stairs are often empty) that there isn't much choice but to stand on both sides at the same time.

 

[styles]

I'd prefer to just have stand only, no walking or running up escalators.

TfL trialled this at Holborn and it increased throughput, since people walking up are further apart than people just standing, so less wasted space. Some commuters got a bit, shall we say, frustrated by it though, so they canned it.

 

[xotGD]

I'll often "walk" as slowly as I can get away with to avoid waiting in a queue at the bottom at Leeds, and make use of the wasted space on the left. I dare not attempt such a tactic in London, however.

I usually walk down. Again, the space on the left is otherwise wasted.

 

[Magdalia]

It’s actually really inefficient - since about 85% of people don’t walk - it would be far more efficient to dispense with the convention

I recall there being a scientific study of this a while ago. The percentage of walkers varies both at time of day (commuters more likely to walk than tourists or shoppers) and length of escalator (people more likely to walk on short escalators than long ones). The study may even have recommended a "tipping point" where escalators shorter than the "tipping point" should have walking but escalators longer than the "tipping point" should have standing on both sides.

About 10 years ago signs were tried at Holborn station telling people to stand on both sides (no walking) for this very reason - at morning rush hour the limited circulation space at the bottom of the escalators would be very overcrowded with people waiting to stand on the right.

The Holborn experiment was tried after the study was published, it is one of the longest escalators. I recall that the experiment was a failure because stand on the right and walk on the left was too deeply engrained.

 

[lachlan]

Sometimes I walk when I'd rather stand, because there's a big queue for standing on the right. The priority should be getting everyone through in good time, not speeding up a few people's journeys at the expense of everyone else. At busy times it should be stand on both sides.

 

[Bald Rick]

It’s actually really inefficient - since about 85% of people don’t walk - it would be far more efficient to dispense with the convention

That depends on your definition of efficiency. When there is major queuing at the escalator entrance, then yes the average journey time on to and along the escalator is quicker if everyone stands. If there is no queue or small queue, as is this case most of the time, then it is quicker on average to have walking. And of course much quicker for those who do the walking (like me).

 

[takno]

Sometimes I walk when I'd rather stand, because there's a big queue for standing on the right. The priority should be getting everyone through in good time, not speeding up a few people's journeys at the expense of everyone else. At busy times it should be stand on both sides.

Inevitably at stations some people are in more of a rush than others, since some people have a train or ongoing bus to catch and some people don't. Splitting people into a group who can afford to queue for a few seconds and a group who can't is arguably one of the key benefits of a stand-on-the-left/right policy.

Obviously at stations like Leeds I'd prefer a return to the subway, with nice short flights of steps and an ability to get between platforms in a fraction of the time, but it's been decided that we need high bridges cluttered with shops as part of the station experience, so we are where we are.

 

[pokemonsuper9]

Obviously at stations like Leeds I'd prefer a return to the subway, with nice short flights of steps and an ability to get between platforms in a fraction of the time, but it's been decided that we need high bridges cluttered with shops as part of the station experience, so we are where we are.

At least Leeds' bridges have stairs so it can be ran up/down when the escalators are full or occupied by slower walkers.

 

[AM9]

Inevitably at stations some people are in more of a rush than others, since some people have a train or ongoing bus to catch and some people don't. Splitting people into a group who can afford to queue for a few seconds and a group who can't is arguably one of the key benefits of a stand-on-the-left/right policy.

Obviously at stations like Leeds I'd prefer a return to the subway, with nice short flights of steps and an ability to get between platforms in a fraction of the time, but it's been decided that we need high bridges cluttered with shops as part of the station experience, so we are where we are.

Splitting people into a group who can afford to queue for a few seconds and a group who can't (or who won't queue) is arguably one of the key benefits of a stand-on-the-left/right policy. I think you should include those who I've indicated. There are those who expect priority rather than need it.

 

[YorksLad12]

I'll often "walk" as slowly as I can get away with to avoid waiting in a queue at the bottom at Leeds, and make use of the wasted space on the left. I dare not attempt such a tactic in London, however.

I usually walk down. Again, the space on the left is otherwise wasted.

To/from the gate line I always use the stairs because it's quicker than the escalators. Off the other platforms I use the escalators as the steps are two narrow for two-way traffic. The eastern footbridge can be fun when going against the flow though...

Obviously at stations like Leeds I'd prefer a return to the subway, with nice short flights of steps and an ability to get between platforms in a fraction of the time, but it's been decided that we need high bridges cluttered with shops as part of the station experience, so we are where we are.

The trouble with the subway (really, a tube slung between the viaducts) is that you'd have trouble making it accessible. The lifts wouldn't be able to get that far down, I suspect if hanging off the side of the viaducts.

 

[xotGD]

Splitting people into a group who can afford to queue for a few seconds and a group who can't (or who won't queue) is arguably one of the key benefits of a stand-on-the-left/right policy. I think you should include those who I've indicated. There are those who expect priority rather than need it.

This is a good case study for Utilitarianism. Which approach provides the greatest overall utility for escalator users?

How many people suffering a 30 second delay queueing for the escalator does it take to offset one person missing their connection because they can't scamper up the escalator?

 

[AM9]

This is a good case study for Utilitarianism. Which approach provides the greatest overall utility for escalator users?

How many people suffering a 30 second delay queueing for the escalator does it take to offset one person missing their connection because they can't scamper up the escalator?

If we're talking about missing a train rather than a connection between two elements of a train journey, one could say, 'how many people suffering a 30 second delay every day because of one person repeatedly allowing insufficient time to catch their's'. Just like those that force their way through closing doors because they arrive at the end of the platform when the train is trying to depart.

 

[The exile]

About 10 years ago signs were tried at Holborn station telling people to stand on both sides (no walking) for this very reason - at morning rush hour the limited circulation space at the bottom of the escalators would be very overcrowded with people waiting to stand on the right.

In some cases doing this for the up escalator would simply transfer the overcrowding to the limited space between the top of the escalator and the gate line - which may well be a worse problem.

 

[Peter0124]

I think stations should also have a staircase aswell as escalators. Argyle Street only has the (fairly large) escalators, though a staircase is only opened whenever its OOU.