Is it true that escalator handrails and steps move at different speeds for the safety of passengers?

A common urban legend explains that the elements of the escalator move asynchronously so that passengers constantly monitor their body position. We checked whether this opinion corresponds to reality.

Some service users explain this phenomenon by concern for passengers "The Big Question" And "Yandex.Q" - in their opinion, handrails and steps move at different speeds so that a person does not fall asleep on the escalator. Designer Artemy Lebedev replied when asked by a follower about this: “The handrail and steps on an escalator move at different speeds all over the world. This was done specifically in order to reduce the trauma of automatic stairs. When the passenger goes down, the handrail moves slower than the steps so that the passenger leans back. During the upward movement, the handrail moves a little faster so that the passenger leans forward. If it were the other way around, someone would break their neck every day.”

The question of why handrails and steps on escalators move at different speeds was answered over the years by representatives of the largest metropolitan areas in the post-Soviet space. For example, the press service of the Moscow Department of Transport reported, that the reason for the non-synchronization lies in the wear of the elements: “The speed of movement of the escalator handrail depends on the drive unit, and the speed of movement of the staircase depends on the electric motor. The block is gradually worn away by friction, so it is initially made with a small margin.” If the drive unit is new, then the handrail can even “overtake” the steps.

We agree with our Moscow colleagues on Petersburg And Kievsky subways. They noted that regulations allow differences in speeds of up to 2% - “this is not a problem and is not dangerous.” At the same time, this difference does not have any inherent function, and the subway employees themselves tell the version about taking care of passengers who fall asleep as a joke.

In fact, handrails and steps move differently not only on escalators in the subway, but also in shopping centers, airports and other buildings. At the same time, they are not large enough and we travel a very short distance on them, so when using such escalators we usually do not notice the difference.

Not true

What do our verdicts mean?

Read on the topic:

1. This Is Why Escalator Handrails Move Faster Than the Steps
2. "Moscow 24". Episode about escalators in the program “Inside Out”