Turbolift Located on board most starship s and space station s , the turbolift , or turbo - elevator , provided both vertical and horizontal transportation for personnel through turboshaft s between key sections of a ship . In the 2270s , the turbolift ' s tactile interface was succeeded by voice command operation . Turbolift specifications . The turbolift personnel transport system was a network of inductively powered transport tubes allowing the volume of the ship to be traversed in a high - speed manner . Many Starfleet turbolifts were comprised of a lightweight duranium - composite framework supporting a cylindrical personnel cab constructed from microfoamed duranium sheeting . Mounted longitudinally along the exterior of the cab were three linear induction motors that provided the motive force . Electromagnetic conduits located along the length of each turboshaft provided power to these motors , allowing accelerations up to ten meter s per second squared . To counter such high acceleration speeds , an inertial dampener was usually installed at the base of the cab to provide crew comfort , eliminating some ( although not all ) of the acceleration effects . In some Starfleet vessels , a plan of the ship was displayed along the back of the turbolift , allowing for directional assistance in the absence of computer access . Turbolifts could also be locked down in the event of a security incident , blocking access to critical areas of the ship , such as the main bridge . ( ) While most starship turbolifts were enclosed , some turbolifts remained open when at rest , in the style of an elevator built in the early - to - mid - 20th century . The Cardassian s built such a turbolift on Terok Nor when it was in operation , and it was still in use by Starfleet on the renamed Deep Space 9 . Once this turbolift was activated , it became enclosed as a precautionary measure . These turbolifts ' positioning mechanisms were powered by multi - phase alternating current . In ships and stations that contained turbolift doors that remained closed while not in use , the doors were often unresponsive in low or no power situations . In a starship , turbolifts were regulated by the turbolift control and an average of ten turbolift cars were in service at any one time . Some peak usage times , such as change - of - shift , could call for a doubling of the turbolift cars with only a 22 % decrease in efficiency . The reason this was possible was that the turboshaft network was designed with the specific purpose of allowing multi - access loops and thus permitting a flexible route for each turbolift car . When battle stations are ordered , all turbolift cars may be subjected to deactivation pending the authorization of the commanding officer . In such cases , personnel are still free to move about the ship via a network of vertical ladders and Jefferies tube s . While docked at a starbase , the turboelevator network was connected to the network of the adjacent starbase , allowing for easy passage without the use of an umbilical dock . This was accomplished through a connection point located at the upper terminus of turboshaft two , leading from the main bridge . When linked , turbolifts cars could travel freely between the ship and areas of the starbase . ( " " ; ; Original Series films ; ) Turbolift incidents . In 2152 , transported Captain Jonathan Archer to the 31st century while Archer was in a turbolift to prevent him from surrendering to the Suliban . This resulted in a severe temporal paradox that almost prevented Archer ' s return to 2152 . ( ) In a hallucination experienced by Ensign Hoshi Sato later that year , she imagined walking into a turbolift that didn ' t respond to her repeatedly pressing a button on the control pad . It was apparently not until another crewman entered the lift and operated the same control panel that the turbolift finally complied . ( ) " In 2165 of an alternate timeline , the turbolifts aboard " Enterprise " became non - functional during a battle between that vessel and a fleet of Xindi ships . As a result , when Jonathan Archer and T ' Pol tried to access one of the turbolifts on " Enterprise " , the turbolift ' s door wouldn ' t even open . " ( ) " In 2263 of the alternate reality , the was heavily damaged and ultimately destroyed in an attack by innumerable tiny ships commanded by an " alien " warlord , Krall . During the attack , Krall ordered the swarm to " cut [ the " Enterprise " s ] throat " , an action which severed several turbolift shafts . This resulted in a turbolift and were travelling in being ejected into space . McCoy and Spock were able to escape by hijacking one of the ships when its occupants attempted to capture them . " ( ) During the polywater incident in 2266 , Captain James T . Kirk saw graffiti reading " SINNER REPENT " on a turbolift door . ( ) In 2268 , multiple Deep Space 9 / crew members , searching for Arne Darvin to prevent him from killing Kirk , infiltrated the by beaming into the turbolifts . ( ) In 2287 , after the construction of the new , many systems were still nonfunctional , including the warp drive . After shore leave , when Kirk entered the main bridge with Spock and McCoy , Kirk was annoyed by the turbolift only opening partially . ( ) In 2365 , when the scanned the logs from the , they contracted a computer virus , which severely affected all critical systems aboard the ship . One of these systems was the turbolifts , as a consequent malfunction resulted in highly increased acceleration rates and tremendous direction shifts , injuring Lieutenant Geordi La Forge inside , and practically throwing him onto the bridge . ( ) In 2367 , when the " Enterprise " - D was trapped in a Tyken ' s Rift , Captain Jean - Luc Picard hallucinated the turbolift shrinking towards him when he got up to the bridge . ( ) In 2368 , a metal parasite infested the " Enterprise " - D when it destroyed an asteroid about to collide with a planet . When this parasite began to ingest the nitrium from all critical systems , the turbolifts became affected , because the circuitry was being broken down as Captain Picard and Lieutenant Commander Data were still inside , although they managed to escape uninjured . ( ) Also in 2368 , a collection of quantum filament s collided with the " Enterprise " - D , disabling power to many of the main systems , including life support , main engines , and computer control . At this time , Picard and some children were in a turbolift , and Picard decided to climb the emergency shaft in case the unstable turbolift fell in the shaft . Using a makeshift rope made from optical cable , Picard and the children escaped the doomed turbolift and climbed to the upper decks . ( ) In 2369 , Constable Odo and Ambassador Lwaxana Troi were trapped in a turbolift onboard space station Deep Space 9 for several hour s after an alien probe , later called " Pup " by Miles O ' Brien , damaged several of the station ' s systems . Kira Nerys informed Odo not to shape - shift his way out through the turboshaft , as Cardassian turbolifts have exposed multi - phase alternating current running through the positioning mechanism . ( ) In 2372 , the Cardassian terrorist group the True Way sabotage d one of Deep Space 9 ' s turbolifts , as part of a scheme to assassinate Bajoran First Minister Shakaar Edon . ( ) Background information . In the script of , this type of elevator was referred to as " a high - speed cab with many capabilities ( to permit development in future episodes ) . " The script went on to describe the effect of the turbolift in motion ; " " We will see flickering lights of the rapidly accelerating ship ' s elevator passing deck after deck . " " Garfield Reeves - Stevens explains how , for " Where No Man Has Gone Before " , the effect of a turbolift moving between decks in a single shot was achieved ; " " It ' s just a really clever , simple trick , where they just put up a wall , I guess a ' wild ' wall , in front of the bridge , and actually shot the turbolift on the bridge . And as soon as the turbolift doors close , then they started the light beams going up the side , just rolled away the wild wall and then when the turbolift doors open , they ' re there . " " ( " Starfleet Access " for " Where No Man Has Gone Before " , TOS Season 1 Blu - ray special features ) As scripted for the next episode , , a turbolift containing Kirk was to change direction from vertical to horizontal travel , while its destination was redirected from the bridge to the captain ' s quarters . In the final version of the episode , though , the lift is only shown making an ascent , prior to when the course change would have been . Another turbolift ride featuring Kirk was scripted to be shown later in the episode , but is not in the final cut of the installment . For usage on , the turbolift was created as a movable unit . " " The whole turbolift module could be moved to another corridor location , " " Robert Justman remarked . ( ) The presence of only one turbolift accessible from the bridge of the " Enterprise " in TOS came under some scrutiny , sometimes being criticized because , if that single turbolift was out of use for whatever reason , it could ( and occasionally did ) trap the bridge officers on the bridge . ( text commentary , " " ) Gene Roddenberry once admitted , " " The one elevator to the bridge " was " a mistake , and no emergency exit in sight . Yes , we would correct that [ if we were ever to do " Star Trek " again ] . " " ( " The World of Star Trek " , 3rd ed . , p . 39 ) Indeed , in an effort to remedy the situation , two turbolifts were later included in the " Enterprise " bridge of and the ship ' s refit configuration , as originally seen in . ( text commentary , " " ) The addition of the second turbolift in " The Animated Series " , an element that was also later planned for inclusion in the ultimately abandoned series " " , was specifically made in response to viewers asking what would happen in the case of a lift break - down . ( " " , p . 20 ) The existence of the double turbolifts was represented on schematics of the " Phase II Enterprise " , akin to a pair of " ' Mickey Mouse ' ears " atop the vessel ' s saucer section . ( " A New " Enterprise " " , " Star Trek Phase II : The Lost Series " central images ) In " The Motion Picture " , part of the " Enterprise " s turbolift was meant to indicate the lift ' s movement through the ship . Production Designer Harold Michelson explained , " " One thing we did with the elevators was put in a plan of the whole ship and when you press a button a light would move . " " ( ) This light , a small white dot , represented the turbolift itself , providing a guide to the lift ' s position . According to Daren Dochterman , the diagram was of the " Enterprise " s ultimately unrealized configuration from " Star Trek : Phase II " . ( audio commentary , ) Another schematic of the " Enterprise " was incorporated into the back wall of the turbolift aboard the in , presumably because the set of the " Enterprise " bridge doubled as that of the " Reliant " . ( text commentary , " " DVD ) The fact that Gene Roddenberry liked the concept of having discussions in the turbolifts of the " Galaxy " - class " Enterprise " influenced the designers of the ship , who at first considered having an on - bridge transporter for TNG , to ultimately discard that idea . ( " " issue # 125 , p . 46 ) The set for a " Galaxy " - class turbolift was located on Paramount Stage 9 , which also contained the set for a corridor that included the doors of the turbolift . ( shooting schedule ) Although a monorail was initially considered for transportation within Deep Space 9 , the turbolifts were again opted for . " " We had the concept of the turbolifts kinda tying together the whole station , " " said Concept Artist Ricardo Delgado . ( " Deep Space Nine : A Bold Beginning " , DS9 Season 1 DVD special features ) Owing to television ' s need for speedy plot advancement , a way of maneuvering characters to and from the operations center ( or " Ops " ) quickly was required , which was why a turbolift was incorporated into the set designed for Ops . ( " Star Trek - Where No One Has Gone Before " , paperback ed . , p . 168 ) Showing turbolifts enter and leave a room was something Production Designer Herman Zimmerman " always wanted to do . " He was able to achieve this goal on , with the turbolift in Deep Space 9 ' s operations center . " " We only had a certain amount of space under the stage that we could work with so one of the criteria for raising a platform was to gain an extra few feet to operate these elevator mechanisms , " " he commented . " " We do see the actors come up out of the stage floor and that proves to be very effective . On other sets that isn ' t possible so we just see the elevator doors open as we do in " The Next Generation . " ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 23 , No . 6 , p . 29 ) In a scene conceived for the film but not included in the movie ' s final version , Captain Jean - Luc Picard and Lily Sloane were to have discovered – due to Borg invaders having increased the humidity aboard the – a mini - thunderstorm atop a turbolift shaft . The inspiration for this scene came from co - writer Ronald D . Moore reading about how NASA ' s Vertical Assembly Building is so massive that it has its own weather systems , but budget constraints trimmed the scene from the film ' s script . ( " " , 3rd ed . , p . 332 ) For , a 23rd - century turbolift had to be recreated and built as a set by the DS9 art department . The lighting of the turbolift matched that of the turbolifts from TOS , rather than those in TNG . " " We actually put a roller belt with holes in it , and put a stationary light behind it , and literally hand cracked the roller , " " stated Herman Zimmerman . " " Of course now we do it with a computer chip and a lot of light bulbs that go on and off sequentially that change the floors . But I think the effects department got a kick out of doing it the old way . " " ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 29 , Nos . 6 / 7 , pp . 76 & 78 ) In an ultimately unused line of dialogue from the writers ' second draft script of , Travis Mayweather briefly alluded to a story about how his mother , Rianna Mayweather , had nearly given birth to him in a turbolift . In the final draft script of , Commander Tucker was referred to as hiding in an open turbolift near Captain Archer and a Ferengi named Krem . However , in the equivalent scene from the final version of the episode , Tucker instead hides in the corridors of . Conversely , in , Captain Archer and Commander Tucker are shown taking a turbolift journey which was entirely absent from the episode ' s final draft script . A similar case is a turbolift journey in , in which the mirror universe version of , aboard the , imagines his prime - universe counterpart encouraging him to catch a Gorn named Slar . In the episode ' s final draft script , the turbolift wasn ' t used , as the scene instead took place while Mirror Archer was sitting in the " Defiant " s command chair . In the film , a turbolift which is visible aboard the was originally to have included a wall - mounted diagram of the ship ' s exterior , though that design element was excised during the making of the film . ( " Star Trek - The Art of the Film " , p . 27 ) The exterior of the turbolift , seen briefly as it descends through a turboshaft into engineering , was ( like the turboshafts themselves ) visualized with CGI . ( documentary featurette " Starships " ) For , sets for five turbolifts were built on Sony Stage 15 . One such set was connected to each of two separate corridors , with another on the bridge , another in the medical bay , and another in the lobby .