13901

I wish the escalators at Heathrow followed the same unwritten rule as on the Tube (right hand side standing, left hand side for those who actually want to get a move).

T8191

See also the use of the cross-passage in the People Eaters at IAD. One is invisible to the driver who shouts "Move down the bus". On one occasion this enabled us to beat a well-known and senior UK politician to Immigration.

dodgeflyer

I wish escalators everywhere followed the same rule. At OSL there's an escalator down to the airport express train (straight onto the platform) - my annoyance, when it is 30s before doors close and people hogging both sides, is palpable.

krispy84

👍 Ditto.

Unfortunately I’ve resigned myself to accepting it will never happen and attempt a zen state of mind when forced to stand behind someone on the left hand side.

Tobias-UK

The escalators at LHR are just too narrow to allow passengers to pass safely, especially on the downward approach.

KARFA

I think they are pretty much the standard width as you see on the tube. If someone stands on one side with their bag it perfectly possible for someone else to pass.

However, unlike the tube, people aren't going to do "stand on the right" as most are probably not going to be aware of such conventions, and it only really works if everyone does it. So instead I will just stand behind quietly planning how I may exact my revenge in some other way on people who have held me up for those precious few seconds

DYKWIA

You see it a lot at Piccadilly station when a train from Euston has arrived. The "Southerners" complaining that people are blocking the escalators on the 30 second journey down to the taxi rank

marshy11

I wonder if these people are those who drive in the middle lane when there is nothing on the inside lane.

13901

Oh, I too have given up on that, and I actually enjoy to see people taking the escalators down to the T5A TTS tracks. There might be no one else on the whole thing - which as you know is LONG - and yet you'll have those one-two people who will stand side-by-side, or with their bag next to them, and just... stand. Watching the light-blue walls go by. Up to the point where they alight at the platform, see that the train is there and then start running. It's fascinating.

The places where I draw a line, though, are the escalators leading to the stations in T5 and CTA. Even more so the one in T2/3, since it's after the barriers. That's fair game and I feel all the entitlement of the (adopted, much like everyone else) Londoner in hurrying down the stairs. It might be totally pointless, since TfL runs a train every other day and still calls is 'good service', but that's the rule. Otherwise Sadiq comes round and banishes you to Manchester or the Midlands (it's a joke before anyone gets offended!).

I think there's a 1:1 correlation on that.

aks120

Even worse are the folks that stand side by side with millions of bags on the flat travellators around T2 T3. I had some last weekend as I was heading to T3 - they looked at me as if I was an alien wanting to walk along the travellator and made it as difficult as possible to pass.

aks120

OverTheHorizon

You will often find me planted in Lane 2, but only on stretches of those horribly unsafe "smart" motorways.

In the early days I had a couple of near misses with Lane 1 being blocked so my prejudices have a firm foundation!!

Can I help you

Why, do you not look ahead of you?

Ladyfliestheredwhiteandblues

The world has gone to hell in a handcart with those death trap smart motorways but after so many years driving I can’t bring myself to hog lane 2.
Also after so many years of London commuting I’m a stand on the right or walk on the left type no matter where I am. The trouble is I don’t think it’s often a convention outside of London and I rarely see the signs elsewhere so we can’t blame most people for not following that. They certainly should pick a side and not block the other side with bags. That’s just good manners and why anyone would be surprised at people using their own foot power on either a travelator or an escalator is beyond me.

sunshinebob

Its getting way off topic but lane one is often an uncomfortable ride as the lorries churn the tarmac up especially in Spain/Portugal where I do most of my middle lane cruising seeking out smoother surfaces.

antichef

I think you will find that most of them drive on the other side of the road in their own country and wont stand on the side that you might expect them to on the LHR escalators as they don't know your quaint local customs - being pedestrian visitors to the country.

If you travel outside the M25 open prison boundary, you might also be surprised that much of the UK is not served by a "tube travel system" and that people are not in the tremendous rush on escalators that appears to be routine in London.

... but the Middle Lane Owners Club hold regional challenge matches daily on UK roads and have many international branches - although I had not noticed them on German Autobahns, where the local traditional gathering is a multi-hour "stau" (stationary traffic jam)