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A silent film from the 1920s has solved the riddle of why London Underground passengers stand on the right of escalators.
The film Underground, being screened at the BFI 53rd London Film Festival, shows that early escalators finished with a diagonal so that the stairway ended sooner for the right foot than the left.
The film has a soldier dithering over a sign saying: "Step off: right foot first."
Reader views (5)
you stand on the right to allow fit show-offs in a rush, to run up the left.
- Barrie, Ryde I.o.W.
Isn't it because there are huge signs everywhere saying "keep to the right"?
- Bob, Cheam
The Underground system is inconsistent; some stairs/corridors instruct passengers to keep left, others keep right.
- Helen, West London
The real reason is to allow those tourists from aboard a measure of comfort. They cannot quite get to grips with our RH drive system but they can find the solace they need of left hand drive on the escalator ( or should I say elevator) without either damaging themselves or others. Why else would there be soooo many tourists on the underground system in the zone 1 & 2 areas but not beyond that where they have to walk up the stairs.
- James, City of London
Most passengers stand on the right of excalators because the majority are right-handed and it´s more natural to hold onto the handrail with the right hand.
- Graham Rodhouse, Helmond, Netherlands
