News

‘A little patience won’t hurt you’: SW London Tube escalator accident hotspots revealed

South Kensington tube station commuters had the highest number of trips, slips and tumbles on escalators in south west London last year.

The figures, obtained through FOI by SW Londoner, revealed 2,708 escalator accidents took place across the London Underground between October 2014-2015.

More than 10% of these incidents recorded occurred at south west London tube stations, with 41 accidents at South Kensington tube station.

But Clapham Common, one of Wandsworth’s tube stations, only experienced four escalator accidents which was the lowest number of incidents in the area.

A TfL spokesperson said: “The safety of all our customers and staff on our network is our top priority.

“The number of accidents on escalators in comparison to the number of Tube journeys is extremely low but we are not complacent and are working hard to reduce this further.”

Commuters have experienced 170 escalator accidents at King’s Cross St. Pancras, the highest recorded last year, compared to more than one billion journeys made on the London Underground every year.

Waterloo, recently identified as the busiest station in the UK with 99,201,601 entries and exits, had 164 incidents which was the second highest number of escalator accidents on the Tube.

A TfL spokesperson added: “We are improving our signage at stations with lifts and escalators which shows customers where lifts are located.

“We have frequent PA announcements reminding customers to be careful when using escalators.

“We also run safety campaigns throughout the year using posters in lifts, trains and stations, as well as advertisements on escalators and gatelines, all across our network to encourage customers to take care whilst using escalators.”

TfL advises commuters to stand on the right, hold onto the handrail, avoid standing next to someone else and not rush or block the escalator with large luggage.

Related Articles