Paddington Elizabeth line escalator luggage shaming camera

[Birkonian]

This 'persuasion' is creeping in at Liverpool Lime Street. The lift is tiny, very slow and there is usually a queue to access it including a number of people avoiding ticket checks. I am not using the lift because I'm likely to miss the next Wirral Line train by doing so.

 

[Bletchleyite]

This 'persuasion' is creeping in at Liverpool Lime Street. The lift is tiny, very slow and there is usually a queue to access it including a number of people avoiding ticket checks. I am not using the lift because I'm likely to miss the next Wirral Line train by doing so.

Personally I only ever access Lime St Low Level by lift, as if you walk you walk as far as you would just walking round to Central. It's also particularly fun presenting a valid ticket when the inspectors are there as they think most lift users are fare dodgers.

 

[PLY2AYS]

I thought they meant those airport style barriers. Narrowing the general escalator access using those pull-across barriers is a disastrously stupid idea and may create dangerous crowding situations in excess of the bags being on the escalators to start with.

Agreed. This is absolutely the wrong equipment to use… the solid metal pillars or metal trolley/luggage gates are much more effective
All the turtle gates do is (in theory) prevent crowds rushing/crushes. It does nothing to deter luggage.

 

[secretlondon]

What should people having large luggage do if they use a station which does not have lift, with escalators being the only access. This is common in a number of deep level tube stations.

We get the bus. I have to when I travel to lots of places that don't have lifts.

 

[camflyer]

My friend's mum is the opposite, she can't do escalators, especially going down.

I always have a wobble or slight pause at the top of an escalator going down to steady myself and grave the handrail as subconsciously if feels stepping off the side of a cliff. I especially hate the ones who h have open drops on the side. Must be annoying to those walking closely behind me.

No problems at all going up escalators.

 

[125Spotter]

Looks like the photo shaming part has been deactivated and it now prints in large text and also vocalises

"STOP! Please use the lift with your large items"

 

[peteb]

In my experience escalators at Paddington are usually so crowded there's nowhere for anything to fall, in fact it's difficult to get a tread to put your case on then stand on the one behind because of people pushing past on the traditional left hand side overtaking lane!

I do worry about parents and pushchairs however as they tip these at an alarming angle and only have two wheels in contact with the slippery metal treads.

 

[Jamiescott1]

Maybe ill be on camera, had to carry my bike down the escalator today otherwise I would of missed the Reading train

 

[Dr Hoo]

Maybe ill be on camera, had to carry my bike down the escalator today otherwise I would of missed the Reading train

How long were the queues for the two lifts?

 

[modernrail]

The lift situation really is poor at Farringdon and Paddington. I assume the chances of a fix and increased capacity are basically zero?

One thing I have noticed is that they seem to be slow compared to others in terms of movement and door opening speed, but that might just be perception.

Are there other stations in the core that are struggling?

 

[Jamiescott1]

How long were the queues for the two lifts?

On the mainline Station level the queue extended onto the main pathway. At a guess about 12 people with luggage (and 1 pushchair)

 

[Sly Old Fox]

I think the best solution is to stop running trains altogether. Can’t have any passenger accidents if there are no trains for people to catch.

 

[800301]

The have installed Barriers at Paddington EL station now, you can still walk past them however… they have only been installed on one side on the concourse and everyone just walks past them with their suitcases so completely pointless

 

[aar0]

Having travelled through London with a buggy last week, the lift set up for Lizzy line at Paddington is mad. I must have walked more than double what I would do normally, and the lift layout is confusing - why do I start at minus 4, or whatever? The queue for the lifts from ticket barriers to mainline level is broken by a pillar and hence several people shamelessly jumped the queue.

 

[thomalex]

"Paddington’s Elizabeth line station is trialling temporary “turtle barriers” to persuade people to use the lifts if they have heavy luggage instead of lugging it down the escalators."

It seems the penny is finally starting to drop. Luggage is perfectly acceptable on escalators, it is heavy or excessive luggage that is not.

 

[TFN]

The have installed Barriers at Paddington EL station now, you can still walk past them however… they have only been installed on one side on the concourse and everyone just walks past them with their suitcases so completely pointless

The works aren’t finished yet. It’s scheduled to take a week.

 

[fgwrich]

The works aren’t finished yet. It’s scheduled to take a week.

They certainly aren’t finished yet, but the staff last night seemed to be completely useless too. Loads of people still walking their suitcases onto the escalators and the staff just stood there watching.

 

[800301]

They certainly aren’t finished yet, but the staff last night seemed to be completely useless too. Loads of people still walking their suitcases onto the escalators and the staff just stood there watching.

They have now been installed completely at the bottom which means if you go down with a suitcase you have to come back up to then use the lift as you won’t get past

 

[PG]

They have now been installed completely at the bottom which means if you go down with a suitcase you have to come back up to then use the lift as you won’t get past

Cue people lifting their suitcases upon their heads like those who have to carry water for miles in some countries.

 

[Jamiescott1]

They have now been installed completely at the bottom which means if you go down with a suitcase you have to come back up to then use the lift as you won’t get past

They're not thin enough. A suitcase will fit through sideways

 

[Bletchleyite]

They're not thin enough. A suitcase will fit through sideways

It's impossible for them to prevent suitcases going through without preventing people with big legs/feet going through. It's just a discouragement.

 

[Bikeman78]

Doesn't the safety of the multiple people on the escalator still take priority someone losing a case on the escalator has the potential to kill or seriously injure someone.

Elizabeth line can average 3-5 passengers per square metre in the peaks going towards Heathrow. I think someone with claustrophobia would struggle with that

Personally they should have those trolley filters near the escalators like they have at Heathrow. They are a visual indicator to take the lifts . There should also be prominent signage for the lifts as well . (Although Paddington isn't that bad for lift wayfinding , other stations are , people always struggle to find the lift from platform 4 to the ticket office at Hayes for example )

This shaming does not seem very British though and looks like the Chinese influence from MTR

Imagine if everyone with a case used the lift. They would probably have to queue for 10 minutes. I am perfectly capable of taking a small case onto an escalator without letting it fall down. I have never had to dodge out of the way of luggage dropped by someone else. I briefly used lifts to access the underground when my kids were in a buggy. It was utterly tedious. I'll start using lifts if/when I am incapable of using stairs or escalators.

A danger is that they get to the bottom then the suitcase falls over, tripping up the person behind it and then the escalator pushing more people on top of them until someone realises and hits the button (though you are going to have to do some shouting to stop people walking and pushing)

I have seen that happen on an airport travelator. I can't recall whether luggage was involved but there was a group of elderly people and the first one fell over at the end. By the time someone pushed the stop button there were several people in a pile.

As for the escalators, playing devil's advocate, perhaps the screens should be install at all stations that have escalators regardless of if they have lifts and people with luggage encouraged to take alternatives, even if that means not using the underground at all.

That would decimate the revenue on the western part of the Piccadilly line. There are a lot of people with lots of luggage on those trains.

 

[DynamicSpirit]

The lift situation really is poor at Farringdon and Paddington. I assume the chances of a fix and increased capacity are basically zero?

One thing I have noticed is that they seem to be slow compared to others in terms of movement and door opening speed, but that might just be perception.

Are there other stations in the core that are struggling?

Maybe there lies at least a partial solution to lift capacity: Speed up the lift - modify it to have the doors open/close faster and the lift travel faster. I'm sure doing that won't be cheap or easy, but it will improve capacity and it will probably be a good deal cheaper than building more lifts.

 

[crablab]

They're not thin enough. A suitcase will fit through sideways

Saw exactly that happen passing through this morning.
Two travellers each with two hard cases went through with them sideways and got all the way to the escalator before being admonished by a staff member!

The barriers have reflective signs attached with various things you mustn't take on the escalator crossed out.

Unfortunately they have installed a half barrier (ie. half the width) right in the middle of the row, ruining the symmetry. They could have put it at the edge with a little more thought and measuring.

All the various vinyls, posts, barriers, "shaming cameras" that have been installed do rather ruin the architecture.

Not saying that trumps safety, but white vinyls everywhere do look rather cheap and haphazard. If they're going to do it then they could do a better job.

---

The barriers at the top have now been installed.

A number of the bolts holding them down are loose/misaligned.

 

[Ediswan]

The barriers at the top have now been installed.

How many lifts are there ? Loking at that photo, the new signs say "Use Lifts" (plural). The existing sign, above head height, says "Lift" (singular).
I do now understand where the name "turtle" comes from.

 

[crablab]

How many lifts are there ?

Two.

 

[Jamiescott1]

Two.

One set of two serves Street level, mainline Station and EL ticket hall level and another set of two serve the EL ticket hall and EL platforms,

 

[Sly Old Fox]

Yeah I’m still gonna be taking my suitcase on the escalator. If everybody with a suitcase uses the lifts the queues will easily be in excess of 30 minutes.

 

[PLY2AYS]

Yeah I’m still gonna be taking my suitcase on the escalator. If everybody with a suitcase uses the lifts the queues will easily be in excess of 30 minutes.

A phenomenal attitude to have. Exceptionally conscientious of you.

 

[Sly Old Fox]

A phenomenal attitude to have. Exceptionally conscientious of you.

No other country would expect users of the train (to an airport of all places) to go through such a rigmarole in order to use their services. If they want people to use the lifts, then provide six of them in a line (automatically, as it Heathrow Terminal 5).