Grace Eracleous cannot bring herself to breach the first commandment of travelling on the Tube. But that’s what TfL is preaching at Holborn station.
London travel is a religion in its own right, right?
There’s an unwritten code of conduct that automatically kicks in whenever you put a foot Underground. That’s right guys, I’m talking Tube 101, the Bible of London commuting and first commandment of Underground stations: stand on the right of the escalators, walk on the left.
But Transport for London (TfL) now seems to think this fundamental rule of commuting should be scrapped, and you should stand on both sides of the escalator.
‘Both sides?!’ I hear you telepathically scream at me – yes, I, too, think it’s barbaric. And so does the rest of London, judging by the unyielding response that I witnessed at Holborn station last week.
Thursday 26 November was the first day of the experiment. After a reasonably pleasant journey from Stratford on the Central line (by ‘reasonably pleasant’, I mean squashed like a sardine; sweaty and suffocating), I was greeted by TfL staff, megaphones in hand, directing commuters to stand on both sides of the escalators.
On first hearing, commuters either refused to follow directions – or they didn’t know how. Many of us looked confused, uncomfortable, simply unable to conform. Which might have been amusing, really, except the TfL-types clearly didn’t see it that way.
“Standing only!”, “No walking on the escalators!”, “Please stand on both sides of the escalators!”
OK, I lied. After a while it was less ‘directing’, and more bullying … in the end we all got the message.
More than 50 million passengers pass through Holborn station each year, making it one of the busiest on the Underground. The idea is that banning walk-ups means twice as many people standing on the escalators at any one time, thereby increasing the rate of traffic during peak hours.
“We believe this will increase the capacity of the escalators as more people will be able to board, preventing queuing at the bottom of the escalator,” says Peter McNaught, operations director of the Central line.
I don’t believe it. Standing on both sides is an intolerable breach of escalator etiquette. What next – board before other passengers have alighted?
The Holborn heresy is set to continue until 17 December, when, hopefully, it will be consigned to the dustbin of failed experiments, and the true commandments of London commuting will be reinstated in full.