The escalator paradox…
Discussion
My local Sainsbury’s Waitrose has had one of their escalators out of action for around a month now, the descending one, causing much disruption. Two things struck me, first, I thought Sainsbury’s might have enough clout to get the matter resolved much quicker and second, if you were the store manager wouldn’t you have the remaining ascending operational escalator be made to go in the opposite direction?
As it stands now people are having to use the lift to get their trollies down to the ground floor, with much queuing taking place. If they had a descending escalator available, most people could use the stairs to go up empty handed , with maybe a few that needed to use the lift for mobility reasons, with an operating escalator to take them down with their fully laden trollies.
Google seems to indicate most escalators can be reversed, though it’s not ideal, though no doubt we’ll have an expert on here to point out I’m talking rubbish! How Sainsbury’s get a car park full of trollies back upstairs is their problem
As it stands now people are having to use the lift to get their trollies down to the ground floor, with much queuing taking place. If they had a descending escalator available, most people could use the stairs to go up empty handed , with maybe a few that needed to use the lift for mobility reasons, with an operating escalator to take them down with their fully laden trollies.
Google seems to indicate most escalators can be reversed, though it’s not ideal, though no doubt we’ll have an expert on here to point out I’m talking rubbish! How Sainsbury’s get a car park full of trollies back upstairs is their problem

sherman said:
I dont know if the flat trolley escalators can really be reveresed. Do the trolley wheels not lock on to the runners magnetically?
They may not work in reverse or release the trolleys at the correct time.
My local Sainsbury's is on an upper level with lifts,stairs and 2 escalators operating in opposite directions.Trolleys lock on in both directions They may not work in reverse or release the trolleys at the correct time.
V8covin said:
sherman said:
I dont know if the flat trolley escalators can really be reveresed. Do the trolley wheels not lock on to the runners magnetically?
They may not work in reverse or release the trolleys at the correct time.
My local Sainsbury's is on an upper level with lifts,stairs and 2 escalators operating in opposite directions.Trolleys lock on in both directions They may not work in reverse or release the trolleys at the correct time.
sherman said:
I dont know if the flat trolley escalators can really be reveresed. Do the trolley wheels not lock on to the runners magnetically?
They may not work in reverse or release the trolleys at the correct time.
I think they have a flat lip on the hubs. The wheel drops into grooves and the flat holds the wheel up, stopping it rolling away.They may not work in reverse or release the trolleys at the correct time.
My local Morrisons (Newport Road in Cardiff) has been the same for months now, the Up travellator broken. They did reverse the Down one to go up though and trolleys come back down in the lifts. They actually started repairs last week and I asked the guys working on it why it was taking so long to start the work and they said it's a complete shortage of parts. They said it'll be lucky to have it fixed by November!
I have noticed that when an escalator is out of action it is usually the up direction that is switched off. I have put this down to it being more likely for people to fall down an escalator than up, so the down direction is prioritised**. However weeks out of action is nothing. Manchester Airport would have travellators and escalators out for months. World class levels of mechanical dysfunctionality. The travellators on the Skylink were never all working and I believe they leave them all off permanently now.
- This is probably a load of rubbish. Best ignored. As you were.
wolfracesonic said:
Nickbrapp said:
Going to the supermarket, how council.
…as is starting the thread not knowing the difference between a travelator and an escalator, D’oh!Is no-one worried that if we start running escalators/travelators (
)backwards then the space-time continuum will be disrupted in some way? I've seen that Superman movie and am aware of the dangers.Gassing Station | The Lounge | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff



