An article, recently published in The Telegraph, explores the widespread issues surrounding escalator safety, reliability, and maintenance. It features insights from Dave Cooper, CIBSE's Vice President, a visiting professor in lift and escalator engineering, and one of Britain’s foremost experts in vertical transportation.
Escalators have become an essential part of modern infrastructure, moving millions of people daily in transport hubs, shopping centres, and office buildings. However, when they go wrong, the consequences can be catastrophic. From sudden reversals that leave passengers injured to long maintenance delays, these machines are proving to be more unreliable than many might assume.
One of the most alarming incidents in recent years occurred in 2021 at Boston’s Back Bay station, where an escalator suddenly reversed at high speed, sending people tumbling backward. Multiple passengers suffered severe injuries, with some requiring extensive medical treatment. Shockingly, this was not the first time such an incident had occurred at the same location. Experts later suggested that poor maintenance and outdated components played a key role in the failure.
According to Dave Cooper, Vice President of CIBSE and one of Britain’s foremost experts in vertical transportation, the root of the problem often lies in a shortage of skilled escalator engineers and substandard maintenance practices: “There is a major lack of skills. It is not just a problem in escalators – there is a shortage of engineers of all sorts in the UK. Chemical engineers, civil engineers, structural engineers. But the fact is, problems are often not diagnosed during escalator call-outs” he says.
Dave Cooper, who has authored over 2,000 expert witness reports on escalator and lift incidents, highlights that improper maintenance has been responsible for several high-profile escalator malfunctions. In 2023, a failure at Glasgow’s Argyle Street station left five people injured due to a sheared gearbox—something that should have been detected during routine servicing. Similar failures have been recorded in Hong Kong, London, and other major cities, pointing to a global issue of underinvestment in both training and equipment.
Beyond maintenance concerns, the availability of replacement parts is another major factor contributing to escalator downtime. With most components now manufactured overseas, particularly in China, sourcing the necessary parts can take weeks or even months. Cooper cites the example of London Bridge station, where escalators were out of service for an extended period simply because operators were waiting for new track components.
Despite advancements in safety technology, including enhanced sensors and automatic shutdown mechanisms, the fundamental issues with escalators remain unresolved. Until there is a major shift in industry practices—whether through better training, improved regulations, or a restructured approach to maintenance—passengers will continue to face disruptions, and, in some cases, dangerous accidents.
As legal battles unfold in cases like Back Bay, experts like Dave Cooper, Vice President of CIBSE, continue to push for higher standards in escalator engineering. Without significant change, however, the reliability of these everyday machines remains uncertain.
To read the full article, visit Unreliable, out of date and downright dangerous: The terrifying truth about escalators