"Roland Perry" wrote in message
...
In message , at 10:51:30 on Thu, 5
Mar 2009, Ian Jelf remarked:
The new escalators slow down when no-one's using them... I've seen
that in Stockholm, but is this the first one in Britain?

In Hamburg they stop altogether...

So how do you know which is which?

If it's like Brussels or Cologne, there's a blue circular "Ahead Only"
traffic-type sign on one escalator and a red circular "No Entry" sign on
the other.

Many countries have escalators that work "on demand" and usage is on a
combination of signage and context. It's common to have an "up" escalator
but only "down" stairs, or there's an obvious tidal flow that the
escalator is servicing (eg 'towards' baggage claim at an airport).

Most (all?) of the ones on the Munich S/U-Bahn seem to work on a "who steps
on the actuator plate first" system. As you approach your stopped escalator
(with an illuminated sign showing two arrows pointing up and down) and step
onto the flat plate at the start, the escalator bursts into life, the double
arrow light at the start end changes to a single arrow pointing in the
direction of travel and the double arrow at the terminus end changes to a
"No Entry" type roundel. The escalator keeps going for as long as people
keep stepping on the actuator plate, then after it has moved sufficient
distance to transport the last person to step on the actuator to the other
end, it runs for about another 5 seconds then stops and goes back into
"first-come" mode. Of course, for the impartial observer, this provides for
some most amusing spectating of "can I get to the actuator before that
bugger coming the other way" type racing.
--
Cheers, Steve.
Change jealous to sad to reply.