Could you stand on the left?! (lighthearted)

[lilyb84]

I'm sure it's purely psychological but I feel like I'm getting to the tube (or out of the bloody station) quicker when I walk on the left... just can't see this working after decades of ingrained habits!

metro.co.uk/2015/11/25/the-decades-old-etiquette-of-keeping-right-on-tube-station-escalators-could-soon-be-over-5525856/

I think I'd get the rage if I had to stand. But if it genuinely improves flow through the station and therefore overall journey times I guess that will make me U...

[oenophilia]

So. Day 2 of the trial. There's a really freaky hologram woman at the bottom of the big escalator waving hello manically, there are shiny new digital signs telling us to stand on both sides


and we're all ignoring it

[Andrewofgg]

a real fitness fanatic, or total nutjob

They're the same thing, aren't they?

To be precise, the first is a subset of the second.

[oenophilia]

They'd put a pretty infographic poster up this morning to show you what two people both standing on an escalator on the same step would look like. Nope. Still doesn't compute. As for walking up, it must be psychosomatic. I'm reasonably fit - lots of dancing - but walking up turns my legs to jelly. I hare down though.

[Seryph]

I live hundreds of miles away and this truly upsets me! Making the change to my new city was nightmarish, people standing wherever they fancy, I even came out of the subway here to find one girl just stopped at the top of the escalator! Standing there, doing nothing!

[MaidOfStars]

HitsAndMrs This thread made me laugh at how different us northerners are!

I wish the general northern population wasn't that different. Despite signs on the escalators in my Major City train station which clearly state "Stand to the right", you still get people just blocking the entire width by standing all over the shop, or placing their bags on the left, or going two abreast with their mates.

However, when I come up behind such people, I am always doubly annoyed if I detect a whiff of Londoness (real word....) about them. Why do you not have the same respect for our fucking escalator system as you do your own?

Maybe we have the reputation of mildness, that these London types don't fear violence when standing on the left.

[NotCitrus]

There's been signs for years at Waterloo and some other crowded stations saying "Please stand on both sides at peak times" - I guess it's the same principle as reducing speeds on motorways to 50 and banning changing lanes, to speed up overall flow.

[OneFlewOverTheDodosNest]

Leeds station is supposed to be stand to the right, but I swear the only people who pay any attention are the ones who are catching the London train.

I frequently once ran for a train at Leeds to find the TRAIN DRIVERS standing on the left. If I hadn't been completely out of breath in a hurry I'd have told them that they should be setting a better example!

[NuggetofPurestGreen]

The reason I don't walk up and particularly down the long escalators in tube stations is because I am very clumsy and afraid I will fall or be knocked off! And I am also a nervous nelly. I like to cling to the right hand banister for dear life

[FelicityLemon]

Jassy funny you say that I did notice that the branch of New Look in Holborn has some new dummies ... en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auton

[winchester1]

I'm another person now living abroad that still stands on the right, suitcase tucked in to the right on the step above. What's the most sad aspect is more often than not I'm the only person on the escalator or general vicinity.

[Witchend]

I would find it easier. I would naturally stand on the left, I feel more comfortable with my left hand on the escalator for some reason. I have to forcibly remind myself to go on the other side.

[JassyRadlett]

This whole thing feels like the start of an episode of Dr Who. You know, where offialdom makes an apparently 'benign' change that in fact creates a crucial tear in the fabric of society, leaving us open to alien invasion.

[SallyStarbuck]

I use Holborn everyday and actually, I think it could work once people understand it. Though it's been rather hit and miss this week so far.

Basically, in Holborn there are four escalators leading into a smallish hall with tunnels one side for the Piccadilly Line, and the other side for the Central Line. So exit, entrance and interchange all happens in this one hallway. In the morning, one escalator is going down, and three are going up.

During rush hour, it gets chaotic as lots of people are all squashed into this small hall, either trying to cross each other to change lines, or to get onto the escalators.

What they've been doing this week mainly involve the exit from the Central Line tunnels, which is right next to one of the escalators. So that escalator they are asking people to stand on both sides, to try and channel more people out of the Central Line tunnel quickly. There's still an option to slide past that and walk up one of the other two up escalators, which are mainly taking people from the Piccadilly Line.

So I do actually get what they are doing. And at least they are doing something, as Holborn has been insane the past few months --though if you ask me I'd make it exit and interchange only between 8.45-9.30.

Also, the downside to walking in Holborn is that they are very long escalators, and if you realise you're knackered there's no room to slide into the right and stop!

[JoandMax]

We moved out of London years ago and now live thousands of miles away on a different continent but DH was so incensed he rang me from work yesterday to tell me about it!!

[Lweji]

Quite a few people also use the stairs, actually, particularly at busy periods, but they are harder to climb than the escalators.

[ElinorRochdale]

I don't get it, are there no stairs?
Alice, there are stairs, but away to the side and really for emergency use only. They're usually spiral, so not good if you have luggage. People can and do use them, but only a real fitness fanatic, or total nutjob, would really want to at a deep station such as Holborn.

[Lweji]

I agree, OP, that it's good exercise to walk up the escalators. Not that hard and after a short while it's effortless.

[Lweji]

I think it will be OK. Other cities instinctively do the same.

[florentina1]

That will show them FelicityLemon. My OH who is the mildest of men, worked in Knightsbridge for years. Meaning he had to use the Holborn interchange. The only thing that ever infuriated him was people's inability to use the escalator to his standard.

[FelicityLemon]

I use Holborn station a lot, fortunately not at rush hour since this experiment started. If it continues I will be forced to get off at Chancery Lane and walk the extra distance to my office.

[florentina1]

One year in Selfridges, security staff were begging customers to "stand on both side of the escalators". Mostly to no avail. it is even ingrained I. Tourists.

[SoupDragon]

I used to walk up until I thought I was going to die and then slot into a free standing spot.

[SoupDragon]

:o

[lilyb84]

Just realised walking up the long escalators makes me a Mad Fucker. Think TfL would make some badges?

[lilyb84]

I just love that the suggested answer isn't getting more people to walk, it's getting more people to stand

I always walk up even the longest escalators (Tottenham Court Road, Piccadilly Circus and Angel come to mind in particular) and often think some people might be surprised how easy it is, especially when you're in the habit. Of course people are tired, have horrible commutes or may be physically incapable of walking, but surely not as many as actually decide to stand...