Moving sidewalk
- This article or section should be merged with escalator.
A moving sidewalk, moving walkway, slidewalk, travelator, travellator or trav-o-lator is a slow speed conveyor belt to transport people; they can walk along it or stand; it is like a horizontal escalator. They are often applied in pairs, one for each direction.
They are often used in airports where there is a long distance to walk between terminals, and in metro stations.
The speed is usually 3 km/h, but there is a high-speed version with a speed of 9 km/h at Gare Montparnasse station in Paris.
At least one person has been killed by such a system: Sally Baldwin, a professor of the University of York was crushed to death at Tiburtina Station in Rome on 28 October 2003 after a travelator collapsed and she was pulled into the cogwheels.
An inclined moving sidewalk, movator or moving ramp is used in airports and supermarkets to move people to another floor with the convenience of an elevator (people can take along their suitcase trolley or shopping cart) and the capacity of an escalator. The carts have either a brake that is automatically applied when the cart handle is released, or specially designed wheels that secure the cart within the grooves of the ramp, so that it doesn't roll uncontrollably down the ramp.
Within the United States, the left side of a moving sidewalk is reserved for walking; the right side is for standing. In some other countries this custom is reversed, but not necessarily corresponding with the rules of the road: in London and Hong Kong one stands on the right, in Australia on the left.
See also
External links
- Walkway propels Paris metro into future, a BBC article on the high-speed travelator at Gare Montparnasse station in Paris.
- Briton dies in Rome station accident, BBC
Categories: Articles to be merged | Vertical transportation devices