page_title: Escalator
section_title: Operation and layout
hierarchical_section_title: Escalator / Design, components, and operation / Operation and layout
caption_attribution_description: English: Holborn Tube Station Escalator
context_page_description: An escalator is a moving staircase which carries people between floors of a building. It consists of a motor-driven chain of individually linked steps on a track which cycle on a pair of tracks which keep them horizontal.
  Escalators are often used around the world in places where lifts would be impractical, or they can be used in conjunction with them. Principal areas of usage include department stores, shopping malls, airports, transit systems, convention centers, hotels, arenas, stadiums and public buildings.
  Escalators have the capacity to move large numbers of people. They can be placed in the same physical space as a staircase. They have no waiting interval. They can be used to guide people toward main exits or special exhibits. They may be weatherproofed for outdoor use. A nonfunctional escalator can function as a normal staircase, whereas many other methods of transport become useless when they break down or lose power.
context_section_description: Escalators typically rise at an angle of about 30 degrees from the ground.  They move at 0.3–0.6 metres (1–2 ft) per second (like moving walkways) and may traverse vertical distances in excess of 18 metres (60 ft). Most modern escalators have single-piece aluminum or stainless steel steps that move on a system of tracks in a continuous loop.
  Escalators are typically configured in one of three ways: parallel (up and down escalators adjacent or nearby, often seen in metro stations and multilevel movie theaters),  multiple parallel (banks of more than one escalator going in the same direction parallel to banks going the other direction), or crisscross (escalators going in one direction "stacked" with escalators going the opposite direction oriented adjacent but perpendicular, frequently used in department stores or shopping centers).
  Most countries require escalators to have moving handrails that keep pace with the movement of the steps as a safety measure. This helps riders steady themselves, especially when stepping onto the moving stairs. Occasionally a handrail moves at a slightly different speed from the steps, causing it to "creep" slowly forward or backward relative to the steps; it is only slippage and normal wear that causes such losses of synchronicity, and is not by design.
  The direction of escalator movement (up or down) can be permanently set, controlled manually depending on the predominant flow of the crowd, or controlled automatically. In some setups, the direction is controlled by whoever arrives first.
caption: "Multiple parallel" layout, Holborn Station, London
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