reduced escalator facilities

[gazingahead]

I usually try to subvert my rampant pedantry into other activities but if there's a pedants corner then I might as well park up.

For the uninitiated, on the tube they announce whether stations have step-free access, which must be very useful if you have mobility issues. To me, reduced escalator facilities would mean that their usual escalator facilities are reduced, rather than offering some but not full facilities. Am I right or am I right?

Also, my son's school are making fruit pizza's.

That's all I have.

[DadDadDad]

You are right that the phrase is potentially ambiguous at a grammatical level between:

1. escalators are reduced
2. facilities are reduced

But what would they respectively mean?

1. they have shrunk the escalators that they normally provide
2. not all escalators are operating

You seem to be saying that you would go for interpretation 1. Surely you are wrong and 2 is the only plausible interpretation?

So, the wording could be improved but I can only see it being understood to mean 2. For clarity, maybe they should just say "some escalators are not running." Easier for the non-English speaker to understand too.

(As an aside, I'm not sure how helpful the message is. If you have mobility issues you surely want to know that you can get to street level with escalators all the way - this message raises the possibility that won't be the case, but it might just mean on some levels one of two escalators is not running which would be fine).

[DadDadDad]

Hmm, reading back, maybe you are interpreting it as 2, but suggesting there's a third interpretation:

1. Compared to the full facilities you would expect to find (in other stations), the escalators provided at this station are fewer in number (or don't run at all levels?)

So, now I don't know what the intended meaning is either! I think you are right.

[Knittedfairies]

That's ambiguous at best. I nominate disabled toilets.

[DadDadDad]

Really getting into this now (well, it is Pedants' Corner). Looking at websites, "reduced escalator service" seems to describe a temporary state of affairs in a given station, and so I think meaning 2 seems to be intended. www.ianvisits.co.uk/blog/2019/03/28/reduced-entry-into-bank-tube-station-from-next-week/

Why can't they just say "some escalators will be turned off"?

[gazingahead]

I would interpret it as the facilities in place are currently reduced, i.e. not all the escalator facilities are working. But I think they actually mean the station has some escalator facilities but also some steps.

[DadDadDad]

But I think they actually mean the station has some escalator facilities but also some steps.

It can't be that, because if you look at online examples from London Underground, they talk about a station having reduced escalator services at certain times, or until a certain date - so it must mean that the escalators are there but are being turned off during maintenance or to manage flow in busy times. (eg "reduced downwards escalator service" suggesting they switch more escalators to run upwards because at certain times that's the busiest direction of passenger flow).