The practice of standing only on the right side of MTR escalators in Hong Kong may soon be a thing of the past, thanks to a new campaign launched by the city’s rail corporation. The 2024 Escalator Safety Campaign kicked off last week to encourage passengers to hold the handrail and stand firm on either side of running escalators instead of walking up the left side, and to use lifts when carrying bulky items.
According to a statement from MTR officials, there were 430 recorded escalator safety incidents inside stations during the first nine months of the year, and 60% of them “involved passengers who were not holding onto handrails, lost their balance while walking, were bumped by others, or were carrying bulky items”. Authorities added that passengers who walk up and down moving escalators may lose their balance and fall, which impacts safety, inconveniences other MTR users, and disrupts station operations.
“With the changing times and an ageing population, walking on escalators and causing injuries may lead to serious consequences. It is safer to stand firm on either side of the escalator. We recognise that changing habits requires a collective effort, so we urge everyone to be considerate of themselves and others by holding onto the handrails and refraining from walking,” said Cheris Lee, the MTR’s chief of operating and metro segment. MTR has also reminded passengers to avoid standing close to the edge of the escalator steps and to be careful when wearing long or loose clothing, such as scarves or shawls, so that they don’t snag or get caught in the steps.
There are more than 1,300 escalators across MTR stations in the territory used by an average of 5 million passengers a day. It’s been customary for commuters to stand on the right side and leave the left side free for others to walk past them. However, studies conducted on metro systems in other parts of the world to show that a standing-only policy may be more effective in managing passenger traffic. In 2016, a report on the Holborn Underground station in London stated that using both sides of an escalator to stand reduced congestion and increased capacity by 30%. In addition, the Japanese prefecture of Saitama and the city of Nagoya recently mandated that passengers must only stand on escalators.
Header image credits: LUAWXMREO Buiam via WikiCommons
