Standing On The Right AND Left Of Holborn's Escalators
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 20 апр 2016
- Standing on the right of the escalators is a rite of passage. It's what all Londoners know is the correct thing to do, and we tut and sigh heavily at anyone who breaks the rule.
Except that now at Holborn, TfL is experimenting by getting people to stand on the left as well as the right. And before you spit at your screen -- research shows that standing on the left carries more people and eases congestion.
But hang on. Logically, standing on an escalator takes more time than if you walk up it. "So how can this be faster?" you ask. Well, the escalator part isn't faster -- but if you spend a long time bunched up at the bottom of the escalator waiting to get ON, the overall time you spend exiting the station could be, and often is, longer.
We've put a POLL into the video: click on the (i) in the top right to vote whether you think standing on the left is a good idea or not.
Other stations where this might be rolled out in the future are: Angel, Green Park, Highgate, Hyde Park Corner, Kentish Town, Leicester Square, London Bridge and Marylebone.
You have been warned.
![Cordae - Saturday Mornings (feat. Lil Wayne) [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/z2GYJua09F0/mqdefault.jpg)
As long as there is at least one walking lane, this is a great idea. Reason being that some people are terribly slow, and this can cause a knock-on effect on catching connecting trains, making every journey take an hour.
Efficiency is always good when there are large crowds.
My view is: As long as there is somewhere to walk (e.g 1 side of 3 escalators) then I'd welcome the idea - but getting stuck behind other commuters/tourists really grinds my gears on the Underground!
I'd rather just have stairs, then I can just go around everybody slower than me like I usually do when walking down a crowded street.
As a tourist, my gears were grinded by getting stuck behind commuters...
@@Jothamvvw I dont see why. I'm from wales where you stand on both sides. That's the point of them. They are meant for you to stand on them and it takes you up. Of you hate it that much use the stairs. Also if your a tourist why are you in a rush. I know this was uneccercerally long
@@monkeyatanofficedesk9253 Surely escalators are for walking anyway. You walk up stairs, escalators are stairs that move to help to get to the next area quicker. If you want to stand around and do nothing for 45 seconds, just go with the people with pushchairs and mobility impaired people to a lift.
Same principle of variable speed limits on the M25 , you can get more cars in a specific length of road, at lower speeds, as the braking distance gap is lower making car shorter..
Chris Stephens this sounds mindblowing
I'm constantly restless, even if I'm not in a hurry I walk on escalators as much as I can. I understand the logic, but I prefer to walk, so I'm glad there is still an option to do so.
I might be completely wrong here but I think the MTR in Hong Kong tried to do this a while back with the yellow "foot prints" on both sides of the escalator steps and a broadcast that went something like "please hold the handrail, stand firm and don't walk"
Didn't work. I think for 4 key reasons:
1) some people walked up the escalators anyways but some didn't so you would have jams on the left hand side as a walker is caught behind a stander
2) Much more people walk up (in some cases run up) normally, and are closer together anyways, reducing the gaps on the walker side (or it is rush hour and everyone is forced to stand anyways)
3) Unlike 1:51 , I feel that in HK the longer the escalator, the more standers get impatient and choose to cross over to the left and walk. On shorter ones, they tend to be broken up so you have to walk a bit before getting to the next one
4) HK elevators seem a bit faster (can't tell from vid) And during peaks, All elevators in large stations tend to point the same way. If you go opposite direction, it is usually a different escalator off to the side, or the stairs. Also the trains might be more frequent.
Good on London for trying it out! I think it will work better there since there is London rush hour, and there is the monstrosity that is HK rush hour. :)
Side note: The broadcast was replaced with "please hold the hand rail, don't keep your eyes only on your mobile phone!" in a somewhat accusatory voice which I find hilarious. No joke! :D
The welsh stand on both sides
For the speed of the elevator, they feels roughly the same to me between HK and London.
2. I usually walkup at short escalators, but stand both can do at the multiple escalator area.
3. longer escalators may stand due to safety reasons.
Good in general... unless you were going to do something like try and go to every tube station in one day :D
♡♡
It's so funny, but although I am not a Londoner, not even British, I really am so trained for this "stand all the right"(by all means, whatever comes or people will kill you or hate you forever or call you a bloody tourist etc.) that I found myself standing on the right whenever I use the Berlin U-Bahn escalatosr and I am always puzzled by the fact that I am the only one there who is always keeping on the right and no-one else does. ;) Never thought that this will change in London one day.
This is what I love about London, never afraid to try something new!
+bowlingkingpin only it's not as lost of other places around the world do it already.
Standing on both sides of the escalators is also what Seoul Metropolitan Area's subway system informs riders to do. We used to be told to stand on the right and walk on the left a few years back. However, most people still instictively stand on the right and leave the left open for anyone walking up the escalators.
I used to use Holborn daily many years ago and the problems of queues backing up the platform were horrendous. I think this video shows just how this trial could benefit the station, and I do suspect that Holborn regulars will come to understand why this works, and the benefits its bringing them.
Many of them - unfortunately - will only realise this once the trial ends and the place reverts to normal running!
BTW this is the best video explanation of the science behind this, that I have seen.
I have seen reports from escalator maintenance companies that the stand on one side policy actually results in accelerated wear and tear of escalator parts due to imbalanced loading. Standing on both sides allow the load to spread out, reducing wear significantly. (Wear and load are not linearly related, so reducing load for a little bit can reduce wear for a lot.)
Great video, guys! One question though, how are TfL going collect the information during this monitoring period?
Even though I am typically a "walker" on the escalators, I think this is a good idea at Holborn as I've been stuck at the platform level by sheer numbers queuing to exit many a time.
However I'm curious as to where you got the info about other potential stations in the description from? Just a bit surprised Marylebone is on that list - it's got a very long straight corridor from the platforms to the escalators, so there's a lot less chance of congestion, plus there's only two escalators (one up, one down), so unlike Holborn, you can't have an all-standing AND a regular half-and-half escalator going up.
This is all very well, but only if there remains the option to walk up for those who want to. In this test, there was one escalator with that option. But imagine if ALL escalators allowed standing on both sides. It might help move more people overall, but what about those people in a hurry?
They would get through quicker.
i thought this video was a poorly timed april fools prank on all londoners at first, however, it seems to make sense. only trouble i see is that it could confuse tourists whod stand on the left at the wrong escalators
Excellent information. It is much more efficient if all just stand, never thought about it. Not as fast for those who want to sprint up though, but they are holding up the whole group. Great stuff, thank you Londonist.
Makes sense, though I still prefer walking up when it's less congested, I normally take the stairs on stations that have them too.
I remember seeing this at the time, was it ever applied to other stations?
This is a brilliant idea
Is it the same for the Piccadilly line escalators
help im stuck in aldwych
whens the next train to holborn?
I'm not sure the problem is that walking causes gaps, but that most people don't choose to walk, so that lane is less well used.
Is there any research that actually shows that a constant stream of walkers is less efficient? I wouldn't be surprised if massed walkers end up bunching more than standers, since they're eager to move forwards as quickly as possible, whereas standers don't really want to be squashed up behind someone.
If it helps get more people through the station, then surely its a great idea. Though I would insist that one escalator is still available for those who want to walk or run.
For going down, its better to install slides than do this but for up its great!
As long as there's always an escalator you can walk up. I get vertigo on Tube escalators. If they abolished that it would make the Tube absolutely unusable.
I remember taking my bike which was in it's own bag, (I'd just come down from Inverness) down the escalator to the tube at Victoria station, I was on the left with my bag on the right, people were not happy, but it's was really funny, you could feel the hate
In Melbourne Australia the custom is to stand on the left.
Surely the rule is: if there's a queue to get on the right side of an escalator and the left side isn't solid with people walking up then it isn't being used to full capacity and people should stand on either side.
The gateline thing is a good observation, even if it proves to be an issue I guess TFL would prefer congestion there to congestion on the platforms where there are moving trains and electrified rails.
I'm not sure they'd want overcrowding at the top as is could turn into a crush and people could be in real trouble here as they get crushed against the barriers. We saw what happened if you get situations like this at the Hillsborough tragedy all those years ago. So whilst I see your point I think you can't have overcrowding at either of these points. If you get to the top of the escalator and there is nowhere to go it is going to cause huge problems.
+Matthew Potter You can release the entire gateline with the press of a button in an emergency. It's not ideal but it's a manageable situation.
RandomNameHere People could also climb over, but I'm sure a disaster could still happen.
I'm pretty sure LU employees would be instructed to simply override the exit gateline and keep it open in case of high congestion.
In Munich you walk on the left or stand on the right and it works quite well. Germany has right-hand traffic on the roads!
In Sydney you walk on the right or stand on the left and it works quite well. Australia has left-hand traffic on the roads.
If this system does not work in London it is because passing on the left does not conform to the British behaviour of moving in a left-hand trafficking environment. Passing a person standing on an ecalator feels like passing a slower car on a road.
Furthermore, if everybody is standing the average passenger is transported faster. But it is neither a gain for those who are in hurry, nor for those who have enough time. Each of those who are in a hurry is obstructed and each of those who want to stand does not care about how much time it takes.
+Elmgmrg Agreed with everything you've said. But also remember, the metro layout and design is much better in Germany and Australia, which greatly reduces the congestion on platforms, in the tunnels, and on the escalators. The London Underground is a very old system, and it wasn't designed to handle as many people as it does. You can see the inefficient design in the long distances from station entrance to platform level (long, narrow, and winding tunnels). And the platforms themselves are narrow, and have only one entrance. The tube needs a complete 21st century overhaul and redesign, station by station. Not likely to happen, though.
If you are moving in the Tube network you do it on the left. Walk the tunnels, go up and down steps, walk the escalator, move yourself on the left. Stand still on the right. Make sense now?
Oh cool, the disappointing test started on my birthday, like me
Lovely!
I've always found it bizarre how in London you're supposed to stand on the right on the escalators. That's what we do in Toronto, but we drive on the right so "keep right except to pass" is a universal concept. But in the UK you drive on the left, so surely it should be stand left, walk right, just like on the motorway?
Briefcases, my friend! The original idea to walk on the left came about due to businessmen who "needed" to walk up the escalator so they could get to work more quickly. As they traditionally carried their briefcases in their right hand, they needed to be able to hold on to the rail whilst walking up with their left hand, hence walk on the left!
The thing I don't really understand is people standing on those moving walkway things at airports, their just a faster way to get to terminals.
they need that at Edinburgh Waverly !
the test started on my birthday!!
It has been 6 months since this was trialed. Was it a success?
The escalators at Holborn are now being refurbished! Last time we went throgh, one of them was closed off - meaning this trail is no longer happening.
I live in Washington DC where it is expected of you to stand on the right on the Metro escalators (which are some of the longest in the Western Hemisphere) without signage telling you to. Tourists always break the rules and make me, at least, want to scream when they ride the metro. London, I feel you pain.
How are tourists supposed to know? In many other countries it's stand to the left only, not the right.
You look at what everyone else is doing!
関西でエスカレーターを利用する際のマナーは立ち止まる人が右に並び、歩く人が左側を使う「右立ち」
東京と大阪は違う
Amazing, I still see people standing on the wrong side of escalators at peak or busy. times in central London, is it a deliberate thing, or was done as they didn’t know any better...?.
Why not walk on both sides? Would be even quicker!
+the way it is That was a thought that we had! Make escalator '1' WALK BOTH SIDES, no '2' STAND BOTH SIDES, and then no. 3' STAND ON THE RIGHT ONLY. But that would be even harder to implement ...
+Londonist Ltd If only 1 in 4 walk up then having an all walking escalator would be mostly empty. yes in theory it is faster to walk up but you have to take in to consideration the amount of people that want to walk up and therefore justify dedicating a single escalator for this purpose. Good theory but standing both sides is much better in practice.
+Londonist Ltd If the ratio is 1 in 4 people walking, then having 1 walking lane to 5 standing lanes as shown here seems like a fairly good compromise. However, it also sounds like only having one walking lane also decreased the ratio of walkers.
+Londonist Ltd Pretty sure people would start tripping if you could walk on both sides
look at 1:39, that show everything
AFAIK, New York doesn't officially have the London rule, but it's unofficially observed much of the time from what I've seen.
Writing this in January 2018. Was it judged a success?
Walking on the left is fast for individual passengers and not the total number of passengers. This is a reality.
During rush hour it would be better everybody to stand in both sides.
Also from my experience many passengers during rush hour are pushing people while entering the left side of escalators and while leaving it in order to gain time. This is very rude and selfish.
I prefer the total speed of all passengers than those of individuals.
It would be better if everybody is walking on both side. However during rush hours there will be always an elderly passengers who can't walk easily this long steep escalators. And segregation between fit young passengers and older one is out of the question.
This was on channel 5 the overday with there underground progam on monday night was an intresting idea
Yeah
+Robert - SIRWOLFE yeah, i watched it, the program in general is pretty good.
I watched it again and the channel 5 documentary was about the trail
What is the problem with keeping it this way with 2 escalators as stand on both sides and the other as usual? Is there still backing up onto the platform with it like this? And only at peak times please. As a walker I think this is the best solution and keeps everyone happy whilst being safe and not getting to a dangerous situation where overcrowding can occur. So why are they still trialling this? Is it to make sure that the area at the top by the barriers will cope? Or are they planning on turning all up escalators in the morning rush hour stand on both sides? You don't seem to make this clear.
Watch "The Tube: Going Under" on TV, one of the first 2 or 3 episodes cover this
The Small Cyclist Ok I will, but what does it say?
Matthew Potter Something along the lines of " We are making people to stand on both sides as a trial as to find a way to releave the bottleneck congestion that usually bacs up to dangerous levels onto the platform were it is significantly dangerous, this trial should hopefully get more people up to the ticket hall quicker and safer so there will be less standing around that causes congestion and delays" something simmilar to that
The Small Cyclist I'm all for this, but if making two of the three up escalators stand on both sides solve the problem then the third can be kept as is until the problem gets to the point that that is needed too. The best of both worlds for all concerned.
Matthew Potter Yeah
To me it seems that the real answer is to enlarge the station. But there may be all sorts of reasons why that is impossible, so asking people to make the most efficient use of the facilities should not be too much to ask.
What I do not get is why there's quite a lot of room between adjacent escalators. It looks like you could add another escalator by having them closer together. Maybe the escalator machinery is in the way?
Clever
Are most of the future stations getting this rolled out because they have the 10 longest escalators on the whole of the Underground
In Singapore,they made you stand on the left on the escalator and don't let people put their shoe caught on the escalator
I wonder how organised are people here in Kiev, Ukraine, with this issue. There are no rules or recommendations on standing or walking on escalators, but how it is works usually: if the escalator is not very much crowded, people stand usually on right side, and left side is free for walking people. Sometimes people stand on both sides even on nearly empty escalator (if 2 friends travelling together, for example), and if someone wants to walk thru, they just give way for a moment.
But if the escalator is really crowded, nobody is walking, everyone just stand on both sides.
More than that, if escalator gets people from crowded train, and there is a gap after those people, 'walkers' may just walk up freely on the left side until there is no space to stand to give them way to go thru :)
+PerkeleKeyboardist that's what happens her in Toronto we used to have walk left stand right sign on the escalators in out Transit system but they got removed some time in the 90's. Sometimes if it isn't crowded poele will walk up them, most of the time pole make way for those thath do want to walk up them.
+Thomas McCarthy (EastYorkDisneyFan) BTW same is true for downward escalators, the only difference is that there's not so much walkers on upwards escalators, as people simply got tired with stations up to 100 m deep :D For example, we have Arsenalna station, it's deepest metro station in the world. Two escalators, both as high as 15-storey buliding. Not everyone can run up the stairs that much :)
+PerkeleKeyboardist we don't have ones that deep. one station has really long ones though. it's called York Mills and it's under a river that they diverted the flow of well building it. it's the deepest station in Toronto even though Union station is lower because it's by the lake
i saw this on the channel 5 show
+Michael Rimmer me too. The Tube: Going Underground. Or something like that.
I already read about this in German newspaper.
In Moscow we have people sitting near the escalators and telling the people when to walk and when to stand on both sides, it really helps!
so was it a success or not?
Not to even mention the strain people put on the escalators when 90% of the total weight is on the right side.
Verticle??!! I think you mean vertical! Geoff!
Why did you not get 5 extra people on the both sides escalator?
I hate going through Holborn purely because of the crowding issue. I avoid the station if I can.
Good idea but it must feel really weird standing on the left
Now they tell me. I thought because everyone in the UK drove on the left, one stood in the left of the escalator.
For Britain, that's basically open revolution. How dare those people at the TfL mess with traditions... ;)
Never walked up an escalator in my life, I give those cheese graters as little chance to hurt me as possible!
The next station is Tower Hill this is a central line train to West Ruislip
every tube station should have at least 2 escalators that make you stand on both sides
i have been in holbron
'Holbron'? - Is that somewhere in Westeros?
I am in total support of this initiative. Standing on both sides enhances safety by reducing the risk of falling or tripping. Preventing such accidents from occurring will not only create a safer environment but also ensure the smooth operation of tube trains.
I have never, ever seen someone fall or trip on an escalator. Just stay out of the way you klutzy slowpokes.
Diet_Crack A 2016 report by TfL notes that 40% of all customer accidents on the London Underground occur on escalators. Just because you've never seen it doesn't mean it's not happening.
Funny, in New York this would never happen because the hoard of people would be way too much to allow walkers. That and New Yorkers bunch when walking a lot more than these Londoners. Maybe its just a matter of Londoners being too polite.
Richard Bosnak
San Francisco here. What sexual crime?
this was made on the Queen's 90th brithday
Open up the Aldwych Branch line! Please!
***** What do you mean?
London is a super lefty place
Why in a country that drives on the left do people have to stand to the right on escalators? Unlike Japan, Singapore, and Australia.
If there isn't a pavement, people should walk against the traffic, so in the UK people should walk on the right side of the road, and overtake others on their left. It just seems to be a rule that has been enforced on the escalators as well.
canusdominici, because TfL said so.
I always walk up the left and when I get of a Holborn I get P****d
excuse me i'm in a rush to the hospital.
Why do they even stand on the right and walk on the left up escalators? shouldn't it be the other way around considering British drive on the left and yield left on the road?
We need this in Bank.
It's too confusing imagine if you're a tourist
Make the escalators faster or make everyone walk up, no standing still. I always walk on escalators, even going down. Theyre just too slow. I hate when people are standing still in front of me, especially going down and there's a clear gap in front. I can understand standing still going up but going down is easy.
FunFact: In Germany, you are not allowed to walk on moving escalators at all, for safety reasons. That does not mean that no one does it, though.
thanks! lovely comment. we do try to do cool stuff in a warm/news style reporting style.
Never knew that. I've always walked on them in germany.
Skellious me too, actually.
Unless you are in Munich, Nürnberg, Essen, Bremen and a number more places where they even have stickers on the escalators saying: "Walk on left side, stand on right side"
That's not right. I never heard about that. Where did you get that information from?
why not make 8 one person wide escalators would that not be even quicker. then have two for walking and the rest for standing
I'm an impatient git. So if stand on both sides is implemented tube wide it will get on my nerves to no end. I just cant help but think walk up them you lazy bastards. Usually if a tube station has a stairs option instead of an escalator. Ill just run up them. Raced a friend up them once and we got a naughty naughty finger wave from the staff. I won though so swings and roundabouts
It's a good idea, why do people need to walk up or down the escalator, does running for a train that you might not get on because if full be faster, if your going home why run for the earlier train when you should have left work earlier on be on time to catch it with out rushing around, ...
I found it amusing when I last visited London and Paris to see some people running for the Tube/Metro getting really upset when they missed it. They only have to wait a couple minutes for the next one....
"Verticle"??!!
It's spelt like vertical, not verticle
The one-off experiment in this report seems much more journalistic than scientific!
For a start, how can an escalator with people standing on both sides end up carrying *more than twice as many* people as one with people standing on only one side (64 vs 28)? And if 1 in 4 people at Holborn want to walk up the escalator, surely all those people would choose single 'walk on the left' escalator, so that walking lane should be full.
But minute-by-minute passenger density on escalators is highly variable, so the particular 60 seconds of footage Gizmodo chose from each of their escalators would be absolutely critical - not that I would be so cynical as to suggest they chose the 60 seconds that made for the best story...
Later in the report it becomes clear why a 'stand on both sides' escalator will have a big flood of people once in a while. At the end of the report (2:31), there's a shot looking down the 'stand both sides' escalator, where you can see that most people still decide to stand on the right, while the few people on the left are trying to climb the stairs until they bunch up behind one particular guy standing on that side holding the camera!!!
Well, I guess that's journalism for you...
I kept standing on the left instead of the right.
What's it like to be hated by everyone in London?
Unfortunately, I'm a Singaporean and they 'stand on the left' instead of 'on the right' . But I'll remember when I return to the UK, I'll be on the right
Crystal Mover - Sorry, I thought you were in London. Peace.
A
♡♡
2:24 that woman looks suspicious.
I filmed some footage at Flinders Street Station, Melbourne in 2005. Someone must have got suspicious, and I found myself confronted by a bunch of transit police demanding an explanation. I considered pointing out that the usual 'No Photography' signs were conspicuously absent from this particular station, but in the end just denied it. I can only assume that my pasty-white complexion is the reason I got out of it so easily, because a couple of months later a darker-skinned tourist was detained for innocently doing exactly the same thing!
helo travlog
£100 fine for walking on escalator!
Looks like the idea was dismissed...
TBH I don't understand why anyone able-bodied would stand.
1:15 that's just a normal escalator. You stand on both sides
When I came to see this it had 666 likes...
I made it 667.
Escalator is not a walking lane!!!
This is so much more efficient. Theres no win in time by first standing around waiting to enter the escalator and then run up. Better to get everyone onto it as fast as possible
Tourists don't know to stand on the right 😡😡😡
Joe F And thats not only in London, it is frustrating
Same problem in oslo
Same in Helsinki... come on, WHY DO YOU THINK EVERYBODY ON THE RIGHT IS STANDING?
Are you saying they sit down or kneel or something?
When I came to London the first time I understood it very quickly, as most newcomers do. With the amount of tourists in London, I think most of them behave correctly. But of course there is idiots.
Standing on both sides? It's against nature I tell you.
It'sn't against the nature rules.
Walking^an escalator takes less time so RUN^the escalator! Or if you want to be an idiot,run^the escalator that goes the wrong way!
Given the concerns about obesity, should they be making everybody walk up?