Escalators

There is a wide and varied range of escalators available to allow users ease of access to different floors. They serve many functions – not only do they carry passengers between floors but they also serve as a bottleneck to ease congestion and create a steady flow of movement. They are typically installed in buildings that have too many visitors to make a passenger lifts practical. Such lifts can only carry a small number of passengers in a given time period, while escalators operate continually to move people from floor to floor.

A few examples of escalators are heavy-duty escalators, light duty escalators and travelators. Each effectively performs a similar function, but different escalators can suit different environments. A heavy duty escalator is substantially stronger than it’s light duty counterpart; these escalators are often found in underground train systems and are built to take the weight of the many passengers that use them, as well as being able to withstand normal wear and tear. A light duty escalator would most often be found in a supermarket or similar location, which needs to carry a number of passengers between floors but doesn’t sustain the amount of use that a heavy-duty escalator would. A travelator is the elevator found typically in an airport. It doesn’t have steps to allow users to carry luggage and other items on it with ease, and is often installed horizontally to aid passengers walking long distances. They are commonly found between airport terminals and are typically wide enough to allow two or more passengers to travel abreast.