Viewing Thread:
"The most philosphical question of the new millennium"

We can (allegedly) put a man on the moon.

We can most definitely travel in space.

We've cracked the Human Genome.

We can clone living creatures.

We can communicate almost instantly with anyone, anywhere in the world.

We can (almost) build nano-machines.



Yet for all our amazing technology, there is still one answer that eludes us...



Why does the handrail on escalators always move at a different speed to the steps?

Having once been on one of the longest escalators in the world ;) i think the problem is all in Wookiees head, I suggest he try going to a specialist who deals in these types of problems.

As such, I almost fell backwards and would've sent you flying =P

I'm tough.

I don't use the handrail.

So, Mr VenomByte Sir, how do you explain the escalators where the handrail moves slower? I experienced this myself only yesterday going up to Cineworld in Bishops Stortford, and had to claw my way back up the rail as I began to be dragged backwards in to the unsuspecting person behind me - who had wisely chosen not to use the handrail, clearly preferring a vertical escalation experience.

"All I ever wanted to be was a mason, please let me be a mason..."

WòókieeMøn§†€® wrote:
> Hell, even the long, flat walkways at Orlando International Airport
> (same thing but with no steps) did it, as did those inside the theme
> parks!

Those things are great, if you run on them at full speed you almost fall over when you hit the normal ground.

Okay, let's think about this.

Both stairs and rail are continually going round and round like caterpillar tracks on a tank. The stairs are larger. They extend further lengeways than the handrails, and follow a slightly larger curve. Both are powered by the same motor system, which in order to save money, is probably powering both at the same speed. The handrails don't have so far to travel, so complete their circumference quicker.

Hence the handrail moves faster than the stairs.


I suggest someone break into wollworths to check the mechanism and validate my theory.

"and the moving floor moves the residents towards the rotating knives..."

"Rotating knives?"

"Yes."

They're built my the same people who build slaughter houses. It's designed to kill you!

MoJoJoJo wrote:
> I've never been on one where the handrail is quicker... and I have to
> use escalators every day. Strange.

I don't believe you. Every escalator I have ever used has the same problem!

Maybe you let go of the handrail often, or just have never noticed it? Sometimes it is barely noticeable, and it (obviously I suppose) tends to be worse on longer escalators.

Every one is the same - get on, put your hand on the rail, and don't remove it at all. By the time you get to the other end, you hand will have moved a short distance, usually out in front of you.

London Underground, Hamleys, Weston Favell Shopping Centre, The Grosvenor Centre, Milton Keynes Shopping Centre - every escalator EVER MADE does it.

Hell, even the long, flat walkways at Orlando International Airport (same thing but with no steps) did it, as did those inside the theme parks!