I always thought that escalators were unidirectional

@Asylum (47893)

Manchester, England

November 4, 2015 8:24am CST

I have often visited Manchester city centre and come across escalators out of order. This can be annoying because they cordon them off and do not even allow you to use them as steps. Today I went into Tesco supermarket and used the escalator to go downstairs to where the bread is stored. The escalator that usually carries customers back upstairs was not working, so it looked as though I would be walking back up. They would be unable to cordon this off because there is no other way out of the lower floor. When I returned to the escalator an engineer was there and he asked me to wait a minute. To my amazement he stopped the working escalator and reset it, then started it operating upwards instead. This makes sense because it is easier for customers to walk down than walk upwards, but I have never seen this happen before. I honestly believed that an escalator was set to operate in one direction only.

16 people like this

17 responses

ElizabethWallace

@ElizabethWallace (12069)

• United States

4 Nov 15

I guess you have lived a life in which most escalators work most of the time.

Otherwise you would have seen this at a younger age, as I did.

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@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

4 Nov 15

On the contrary, I am used to escalators being cordoned off when not in operation and people told to walk to the nearest one.

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@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

4 Nov 15

@ElizabethWallace I have known some to be inoperative for days, which can be a real nuisance if it means walking a long way to use an alternative and walk back to the same area.

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ElizabethWallace

@ElizabethWallace (12069)

• United States

4 Nov 15

@Asylum It is even worse when the escalators are in huge malls. In order to go up or down, you have to walk to the far end, which is often very far.

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@BACONSTRIPSXXX (18042)

• Torrington, Connecticut

4 Nov 15

I didnt know that either, I thought they would only go in one direction

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@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

4 Nov 15

It has to be cheaper to make a unidirectional escalator so it seemed unlikely that many companies would pay for a more sophisticated system which may never be used.

@Rollo1 (16676)

• Boston, Massachusetts

4 Nov 15

I have never seen them reset an escalator to the opposite direction, but I suppose it makes sense that it has a reverse on it. I am not crazy about escalators, especially if there are other people on them. You can't trust other people.

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@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

6 Nov 15

@Marilynda1225 The worst example that I can remember occurred when I was in London. People were sprinting up the escalators in order to catch an earlier train and avoid having to wait for another 5 minutes.

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

4 Nov 15

I found this to be quite a surprise. It is simple enough to build them with the ability to work either way, but seems unnecessary.

@Marilynda1225 (91035)

• United States

4 Nov 15

I hate people who decide to run down the escalator because it doesn't move fast enough for them to wait a few minutes to get to the bottom

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@LadyDuck (502208)

• Italy

4 Nov 15

I knew that they are bidirectional, I have seen escalators changing directions many times, especially int he malls.

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

4 Nov 15

It seemed to me that it must be cheaper to build one with a fixed gear, so this option appeared to be an unnecessary cost

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@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

4 Nov 15

@LadyDuck That was the surprise for me Anna, it is the first time that I have ever seen this done. Therefore most escalators in England have to designed to perform something that they will never be used for.

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@LadyDuck (502208)

• Italy

4 Nov 15

@Asylum Yes, but if there is the need to inverse the direction, they can do this.

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Margaret Mwangi

@Missmwngi (12915)

• Nairobi, Kenya

4 Nov 15

I never knew either but thanks to your post now i know he hee

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@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

5 Nov 15

@Missmwngi I have only seen it happen once in my 67 years, so I doubt if I will see it happen again.

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@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

4 Nov 15

It was quite a surprise to me.

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Margaret Mwangi

@Missmwngi (12915)

• Nairobi, Kenya

5 Nov 15

@Asylum I would have been as surprised as you but now i guess you gave me a heads up if i see it happen it won't be a surprise

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@rahulvsmokiee (3110)

• Thiruvananthapuram, India

4 Nov 15

It is indeed bad if the escalators are complained. Here we have an escalator operator for every billing so as to avoid such experience.

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

6 Nov 15

Escalators can really useful when they work, but a real problem when they break down.

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@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

6 Nov 15

@rahulvsmokiee It does tend to depress most people to discover that it is necessary to walk further.

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@rahulvsmokiee (3110)

• Thiruvananthapuram, India

6 Nov 15

@Asylum Indeed. My mood changes when they are not working.

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@kevin1877uk (36987)

•

5 Nov 15

Not sure, I guess it's only a motor which could be driven in reverse.

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

5 Nov 15

I appreciate it is easy to construct them to operate both ways, but since it is a rare occurrence I assumed that they had a fixed direction drive.

@SIMPLYD (90717)

• Philippines

6 Nov 15

Wow , so it can be made into a reversed way also ! This is the first time i have known about it.

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

6 Nov 15

It makes perfect sense to fit an escalator with a 2 way motor, but does not make very much sense for this facility to be fitted and then used only on very rare occasions.

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changjiangzhibin89

@changjiangzhibin89 (17239)

• China

5 Nov 15

Like you ,I am surprised at the fact that the engineer could actually change the escalator running direction.I have never known it before .

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

5 Nov 15

This was a first for me. It seems most odd that this is not taken advantage of more often when an escalator problem occurs.

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Belle Starr (Iz)

@BelleStarr (61463)

• United States

5 Nov 15

I think I have always known that they can be changed and I am glad he changed it when he did. Do they offer an elevator as well? Many places do for wheelchairs and prams.

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

5 Nov 15

A very good point, but I am unaware of any alternative access.

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@valmnz (17095)

• New Zealand

4 Nov 15

If you had tricky knees you'd know that walking down is quite difficult for some people.

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

6 Nov 15

I cannot really imagine that it would be harder than walking upwards, although I cannot be certain of that.

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@jaboUK (64346)

• United Kingdom

4 Nov 15

You really thought that? I've operated an escalator at the races where it's the only one, so it has to go both ways. You must make sure that no-one is on the escalator before changing the direction.

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

4 Nov 15

I have never known a single escalator, every time that I have encountered them they have been in pairs with one operating in each direction.

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@Pattitude (1286)

• Newton, North Carolina

4 Nov 15

I did not know this either. Actually, I never thought of it!

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

4 Nov 15

I must admit it is not something that I have ever given any thought to, but it seemed obvious to me that they would not be reversible.

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@JudyEv (381837)

• Rockingham, Australia

4 Nov 15

I guess I hadn't thought about it before but it doesn't surprise me that they'd go either way. Glad you didn't have to use them as stairs.

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

6 Nov 15

I do not mind having to use them as stairs. The really annoying occasions are when the escalator stops and it is cordoned off and you have to walk a long way to find another route.

@allknowing (153544)

• India

5 Nov 15

I have not noticed this but no amount of directions is going to make me like those monsters

@Tampa_girl7 (54714)

• United States

4 Nov 15

I don't like escalators. They make me nervous.

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

4 Nov 15

I find them very convenient, at least they are when they are working.

@Marilynda1225 (91035)

• United States

4 Nov 15

I loved in NY for quite a number of years and am familiar with the escalators being able to go in either direction. Comes in quite handy for subway travel

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

4 Nov 15

I have only known escalators and travellators to be fitted in pairs, with one going ion either direction.