Waverley Escalators - A reoccurring problem?

[s2345]

The local press has today picked up on the ongoing issue surrounding the reliability of the escalators at the Waverley steps entrance/exit. I don't travel often enough through stations with escalators apart from EDB but surely other stations manage to do better!? Why are these (not even 3 year old) escalators so bad and is this a major problem elsewhere?

http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.c...-escalators-only-work-half-the-time-1-3403092

Commuters have slammed Waverley bosses over escalators installed as part of a £7 million redevelopment that only work “50 per cent” of the time.

Now anger over the performance of the escalators at Waverley Steps has led to the contractor in charge of maintenance being replaced, with the station operator promising “an improvement in reliability in the near future”.

Travellers with heavy bags hoped the escalators would end the 72-step ordeal to from the station to Princes Street, but they have been dogged by breakdowns ever since they began operating.

Passengers say they are as likely to find at least one of the six broken or cordoned off for repairs as they are to find them all working.

Lawrence Marshall, chairman of the Capital Rail Action Group and a daily commuter through Waverley, said the escalators are “too frequently” broken down when he passes through the station.

“It’s unfortunate, because I think they’ve done a good job with Waverley Steps,” said Mr Marshall. “It is a bit of a shame that having made such a nice job of it, the escalators seem to be fairly erratic. It is quite rare for all six to be working.

“It would be nice for them to sort it out. It seems to happen far more often than in a department store.”

His disappointment was echoed by other Edinburgh commuters. Kyle Turvie, 21, who commutes to Edinburgh from Kirkcaldy, said: “Pretty frequently, at least one of the escalators isn’t working. It’s quite inconvenient.”

Rebecca Burnett, 32, who lives in Barnton, said: “I come through here twice a day, three to four times a week, and I’d say at least 50 to 75 per cent of the time, one of them is not working.

“When I’ve got bags and laptops, it can be a bit frustrating. Obviously there’s the stairs, but escalators would make things easier.”

And Kyle McQuatt, 26, from Bonnyrigg, said: “I work across from the station, and the one at the bottom is never working.”

The six escalators were unveiled in January 2012 as part of a wider £130m refurbishment of the station.

The renewal saw a roof installed over Waverley Steps, which are used by more than 14,000 people each day, or 40 per cent of travellers through Waverley.

The only other step-free direct access between the station and Princes Street are two 16-person lifts, which take travellers up to the roof of the Princes Mall. The lifts had to be re-sited further away from the steps and Princes Street following an objection to the original plans by the neighbouring Balmoral Hotel.

A spokesman for Network Rail, which runs Waverley Station, said: “The Waverley Steps escalators opened in January 2012 as part of a £130m investment at the station which has renewed the roof and created step-free access at the Market Street, Calton Road and Waverley Steps entrances.

“The performance of the escalators at the Waverley Steps is something we are seeking to address and we have recently appointed a new company to maintain them. We expect to see an improvement in reliability in the near future.”

 

[reb0118]

It is my belief that these escalators are open to the elements to a certain degree as the so called "roof" above does not stretch across the whole width of the steps. This may have a bearing on their reliability? It should be noted that we do occasionally get horizontal rain in Edinburgh.

 

[DaveNewcastle]

. . . and of course there is also the 'step free access' where it has always been. Up and down the two ramps.

Personally, I'm content that most of the new escalators work for most of the time. I wouldn't really expect much more. I agree with reb0118's observations and add that any unusual weather condition in the city is likely to be magnified on the Waverley Steps.

 

[90019]

Personally, I'm content that most of the new escalators work for most of the time. I wouldn't really expect much more. I agree with reb0118's observations and add that any unusual weather condition in the city is likely to be magnified on the Waverley Steps.

I'm around there pretty regularly when working, and nearly every time I use Waverley Steps, at least one escalator is either shut for maintainence, cordoned off or just stopped.



They're also so slow.
I just use the stairs - it's much quicker.

 

[reb0118]

I just use the stairs - it's much quicker.

And better for you!

 

[Blindtraveler]

And better for you!

valid point, especially if like me youve been unable to resist the temptations of Burger King whilst down there!
Seriusly though these escalaters are a joke and as my Mum commented the other day theres machines along the road in Jenners that are much older and run better! Glad NR have apointed a new contracter for maintainance.↲

 

[scotraildriver]

They also have lots of large and very prominent emergency stop buttons which attract the attentions of pesky kids who like to stop them so they can slide down the handrails.

 

[Class 170101]

You also cannot compare the escalator of a department store which may see 10 hours use per day (if you are lucky and probably less) and thse in a public transport environment which are likely to be in use pretty much constantly from 05:30 til 00:30 every day.

 

[TEW]

I believe the newly installed escalators at Reading have also suffered from problems.

 

[asylumxl]

I seem to remember reading somewhere that the escalators that were chosen weren't suited for the amount of use and weight that would be placed on them.

 

[Blindtraveler]

I seem to remember reading somewhere that the escalators that were chosen weren't suited for the amount of use and weight that would be placed on them.

The Edinburgh Evening News and other local media has amazingly not cottened onto this detail however the problems experienced do certainly match this theory. As a regular user (or not, as the case may be) I can testify to that!↲

 

[90019]

The Edinburgh Evening News and other local media has amazingly not cottened onto this detail however the problems experienced do certainly match this theory. As a regular user (or not, as the case may be) I can testify to that!↲

I have a feeling they may have done not long after it was opened, but haven't really mentioned it since.

 

[Blindtraveler]

I believe the newly installed escalators at Reading have also suffered from problems.

Hopefully not the same cut price shonky supplier, or indeed the same weight and usage issues mentioned above?↲ Who was the contracter at Reading? Its not escaped my attention that the Waverley and Haymarket installations were both done by morgan sindall. And this is all before we start on the notoriusly poor equipment at kings cross, commissioned as it happens at around the same time! Am I reading too much into this? I do however notice0hat the new machines at BHM are different and seam very good! ↲

 

[dcsprior]

Personally, I'm content that most of the new escalators work for most of the time. I wouldn't really expect much more. I agree with reb0118's observations and add that any unusual weather condition in the city is likely to be magnified on the Waverley Steps.

From personal experience, I'd say that about 40% of the times I use the escalators to go from Princes Street -> Concourse (or vice-versa) at least one of the escalators is faulty.

Taken individually each escalator may work the vast majority of the time, but it seems to be very often that one of them is out.

It is my belief that these escalators are open to the elements to a certain degree as the so called "roof" above does not stretch across the whole width of the steps. This may have a bearing on their reliability? It should be noted that we do occasionally get horizontal rain in Edinburgh.

I imagine the ones closer to the top are hit most often by rain - I can't say I've noticed them being out of action more often than the ones further down

They also have lots of large and very prominent emergency stop buttons which attract the attentions of pesky kids who like to stop them so they can slide down the handrails.

Yep - though I doubt many pesky kids can be bothered getting up in time to do this before I get to the escalators around 5:25am

 

[Tibbs]

You also cannot compare the escalator of a department store which may see 10 hours use per day (if you are lucky and probably less) and thse in a public transport environment which are likely to be in use pretty much constantly from 05:30 til 00:30 every day.

No, but you can compare them to the escalators at Undergraound station, the throughput of which would be far in excess of those at Waverley.

I travel around the undergrpound a lot and very rarely to I see a set out of order for anything other than replacement.

I'm guessing it's a weather issue, or is there a regional stereotype issue here?

 

[Waddon]

On the question of escalators, why is it that escalators (even new ones) at UK rail stations always grind and squeal as if someone is having a go at them with an angle grinder? My experience is that you never hear this at stations elsewhere in the world, is it something to do with different UK specifications or something?

 

[dcsprior]

No, but you can compare them to the escalators at Undergraound station, the throughput of which would be far in excess of those at Waverley.

I travel around the undergrpound a lot and very rarely to I see a set out of order for anything other than replacement.

I'm guessing it's a weather issue, or is there a regional stereotype issue here?

It seems rare to see escalators on the underground without any redundancy though - this can affect overall reliability greatly... Lets imagine that escalators work 98% of the time, and that there are four escalators from top to bottom:

• If there's no redundancy (i.e. to escalators on each section - one up and one down escalator) then the there's a 14.9% chance that there'll be at least one section which won't have escalator running in each direction
• If there's 3 in each section, then there's only a 0.12% chance that more than one escalator in a section will be out of order, and therefore only a 0.47% chance that one or more sections will not have (at least) one escalator running in each direction

 

[ASharpe]

I have noticed during waits ar Reading that the escalators slow down when not in use. They then speed up pretty quickly once someone gets on them. Presumably it is to save on power consumption and wear.

Is this normal behaviour that I have just never noticed elsewhere?

 

[Tom B]

If an "up" escalator breaks down, ought the logical solution to be to reverse the "down" escalator? That way passengers going down can walk down the stairs but those going up get the functioning escalator - more logical than the reverse!