Well, I only rarely go to Newark Airport. Perhaps you are more familiar with it than I am.
I was talking about the other Pennsylvania Station, the one in New York City. There it is common to find escalators not working.
I commuted through Newark Pennsylvania Station for a great many months. There are old and narrow escators up to the tracks. They only go up. They usually run but are definitely out at times. If you come in by PATH train there are escalators down to the station and also escalators up from the Newark Light Rail. I never knew these to be out of service except during Sandy which took out the Light Rail escalator.
Usually I just took the stairs going down but for a while I had a pulled tendon and needed the elevators. Once I found the elevator from the track out of service but other than that they all worked.
I saw an out of service escalator in a department store in the mall near my house yesterday. There were no people standing on it, though. It was the down escalator, so I just assumed that the basement was full of stairs and they had to clean it out.
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
If you have never seen an airport escalator out of service or simply not running I must say I have many times ... Newark Airport. It seems to be a common occurrence in all three terminal buildings. As far as Newark Pennsylvania Station is concerned I have never seen an out-of-service platform escalator or elevator there.
My gentle fellow readers & posters, please... on comments p.1 Phoebe Vet wrote: "Listen to the announcement at the very beginning of the video and look at the crowd at the top of, but not on, the escalator." He's pointing out that the folks up top aren't moving, either. The announcement says the escalators have been shut down for safety reasons. Why? Maybe police action up top? A fire in the neighborhood? A water main break on the street? For whatever reason, the authorities don't want a big crowd disgorging from the station. The escalators did not break down. They were shut down.
Yes but the cause could be rooted in damage linked to Sandy.
cat992c Maybe Hurricane Sandy had a hand in this
Maybe Hurricane Sandy had a hand in this
Nah, this happened the day I posted it.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
BroadwayLionVandals *do* jam the ticket vending machines, and then "sell swipes" at the turnstiles. The vending machines do collect money, and they are armored, but they can still be jammed. MTA spends a lot of money keeping those things working. It would almost be cheaper to put the sales clerk back in the booth.
Today's Daily News reports that subway crime id down significantly since last year:
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/donohue-don-fooled-safer-subways-article-1.1284648
There are other reports that it might be reduced further but the MTA dclines ito install security cameras in the large majority of its stations.
BroadwayLionEscalators are an Off-the-shelf item. They are made of standardized parts and are required to have an emergency stop switch which is a red flag to vandals.
But what I am saying is that escalators don't have to be off the shelf items, especially escalators that face special problems. No doubt the necessary emergency switches are also a problem. Perhaps if that problem were to be focused on improvements might be found.
Yes, these things are challenges. But if we have the will to face the challenges of space travel why don't we have the will to face the challenges of getting people to work?
John WRAnd if that is true why aren't subway escalators built with vandals in mind? After all, turn styles have been made far more vandal proof than they used to be.
Escalators are an Off-the-shelf item. They are made of standardized parts and are required to have an emergency stop switch which is a red flag to vandals.
Turnstiles on the other hand are custom made 100%, and can be built to any specification required. They no longer collect any money so are not as much as a target like they used to be. Vandals *do* jam the ticket vending machines, and then "sell swipes" at the turnstiles. The vending machines do collect money, and they are armored, but they can still be jammed. MTA spends a lot of money keeping those things working. It would almost be cheaper to put the sales clerk back in the booth.
The NYCTA Subway probably gets more vandals than PATH for several reasons. It's larger, it goes into all parts of New York City and it has an incredible passenger volume. Turnstiles are also a revenue source so they are more likely to be armor-plated than an escalator.
Why do you believe subways get a larger proportion of vandals than PATH trains?
And if that is true why aren't subway escalators built with vandals in mind? After all, turn styles have been made far more vandal proof than they used to be.
A lot of vandals ride on the subways, on PATH not so much. This is of course attested to by the graffiti (about which we are not supposed to talk), and while that has been controlled other acts of vandalism have not. Hundreds of school kids get on all at once and each one wants to the the head macho.
Beyond that, the LION cannot say.
ROAR.
Lion,
I accept your point about airport authorities. But the fact of the matter is I have never known an escalator in an airport to be out of service.
I also understand your point about escalators in the New York City subways and similar places. But that the escalators should be out of service so often is not entirely clear. After all, a country that can send a man to the moon ought to be able to design an escalator that is both vandal resistant and would stand up to the weather. No doubt it would be more expensive. However, no doubt the repair costs could be sgnifiantly reduced.
Finally, this post comes a few days after I have traveled through New York Penn Station. The escalators are indoors and the people using them are fare paying rail riders just as those who use airport elevators are largely fare paying fliers. Yet in the staton a lot of escalators are our of service. I can't understand why. If you have any insight I would appreciate it but I don't expect that you will necessarily know the answer.
John WRMy own experience is that railroads, at least in the New York area, have trouble keeping there escalators running that airlines just do not have.
Airlines do not run escalators. Airport authorities do. And they are all indoors. And unlike airports with their security and all, NYCT escalators are just simply right there where any orc can tamper with it or push the emergency button just for the fun of it. Things like escalators are just not built for the abuse they receive in New York City Transit.
BroadwayLion Actually, the PATH platforms are on the 7th level underground.
Actually, the PATH platforms are on the 7th level underground.
My own experience is that railroads, at least in the New York area, have trouble keeping there escalators running that airlines just do not have. I cannot recall an escalator in an airport to be stopped or out of service although it must occasionally happen. At the same time, at any given time there seem to be about a quarter of rail transportation escalators out of service or stopped for no apparent reason and many people walking up several long flights of stairs. I cannot explain why.
henry6But that is about a two or three story climb out of the PATH complex and many cannot walk
henry6 But that is about a two or three story climb out of the PATH complex and many cannot walk
If even a few cannot walk up the stairs no one will be able to move on the escalator. A few years ago I pulled a ligament in my ankle. I could not go up or down stairs. But in Newark Penn Station everything is up or down stairs. I learned that there are elevators. Many are in out of the way places but they are there. And of course, there are escelators up to the tracks. Narrow escelators. Had an eleclator stopped with me on it I could not have walked up or walked down.
Listen to the announcement at the very beginning of the video and look at the crowd at the top of, but not on, the escalator.
It is as it appears...the escalators are exits. If there was a huge crowd holding things up it would be on street level. You see those on the stairways moving up OK. But that is about a two or three story climb out of the PATH complex and many cannot walk or do not want to walk but rather wait for the escalator. I wonder what the elevators nearby looked like....Oh, and I've been there when the escalator is working and the crowd is just as bunched up.
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Henry:
It may not be as it appears. I have been trapped on an escalator in DC. There was a train broken down in the station so a crowd was gathering on the platform. I was fortunate to be there at the beginning and was able to just shove a couple of people at the foot of the escalator out of the way. It angered them, but it enabled my wife, two grandchildren and me to get off the moving escalator. They did, however have to stop the machinery so they could herd the morons to the middle of the platform. Many people behind us were trapped on the escalator for a few minutes. They were NOT waiting for it to move again.
Henry, I was absolutely astounded to see the majority of the people just standing, waiting for the escalators to begin moving again. You can wonder about their basic intelligence or their ability to think things through. Of course, if no one in front you is moving up, and there is a solid wall of stationary people in front of you, it is a bit difficult for you to move up.
Johnny
It is absolutely amazing how stupid people are...the escalators are not moving so instead of stepping along people just stand there waiting for something to change. Meanwhile, the more intelligent are going around those standing on the stopped escalators and walking up the stairway. Sheep follow sheep, and if the sheep don't move, the rest of the sheep don't move! Amazing!
Because the escalators stopped working?
watch?feature=playerembedded&v=A63fIeInpeM
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