During November last year, the 11,000 commuters that alighted at Holborn station, between the hours of 8.30 and 9.30am, faced a shocking sight. People were standing on the left as well as the right. This unsettling business was part of a trial set to last only three weeks, but the scrapping of London’s perhaps most sacred rule resulted in a very surprising outcome. As it turned out, standing on both sides of the escalator was actually faster than walking, with a 30% increase of passengers – from 12,745 to 16,220 – moving through the station during the allocated time.
Valiant staffer at Holborn tube trying to get people to stand on both sides of one escalator to ease congestion. Commuters look mortified.
— Kora-Lee Holmes (@KoraLee_Holmes) 25 November 2015
Despite the big BUT that comes with these results – the fact that Holborn’s escalators are one of the longest in London at 23.4 metres high probably means that people will tend to be less bothered about walking up them as it is – TfL has decided to go ahead with a six-month trial. One of four escalators will be standing-only at all times and another escalator will follow the new rules for certain times throughout the day…though for people who don’t like change (or standing still) there will be one ‘up’ escalator where the old rules still apply. How we feel about this…
I saw a guy take a bite of Kit Kat bar without breaking it apart first. Sir, we live in a society with rules, please adhere to them.
— Adam Lynch (@_AdamLynch_) 27 January 2015
Let’s watch this space ey! And everyone…keep your feet firmly on the ground.
Featured Image Credit: Flickr