It's back: tube passengers will be standing on both sides of the 'up' escalators at Holborn for six months from today.
It's an experiment by Transport for London to see if it cuts crowding — TfL says a three week trial last year cut congestion by 30%. The new standing rule applies to two escalators nearest the Central line. There will be a third escalator you can walk up if you really want to.
Peter McNaught, Operations Director at London Underground, said: “I look forward to this new pilot starting today. The etiquette on London Underground is for customers to stand on the right of escalators, allowing others to walk on the left. However, few customers choose to walk on longer escalators such as Holborn, so much of the left-hand-side is unused. We hope that this can lead to improving congestion at Holborn, making journeys easier for all of our customers”.
Given that two thirds of tube passengers aren't impressed with this standing only business, we'll see how it goes.
