Transporting London

Acknowledging the years of experience and specialist knowledge of the TfL internal escalator team

Transport for London (TfL) is a massive transportation operation that keeps an eye on everything transport related in the city, from cycling and walking to buses, trams and the Tube. And a big piece of the accessibility puzzle — when it comes to certain forms of public transportation — is vertical transportation. Lifts and escalators play a big role in getting riders from the streets to the stations, and when a unit goes down for whatever reason, this can cause quite a disturbance in daily transportation needs.

When there is an issue, the TfL internal escalator team is able to move swiftly. There are more than 500 escalators across the TfL network, and the maintenance of these is split between an internal team and an external team, depending upon contracts with the OEMs. (This is mostly due to newer units coming in as part of design/build/maintain agreements with the OEMs.) The internal team of 243 employees (at the time of the interview) maintains 250 of these escalators.

The team has been running since at least the 1960s and covers a full spread of equipment of all ages. According to Russell Rowland, escalator maintenance manager at TfL, most of what the internal team maintains is legacy equipment with some Otis machines going back to the 1940s and 1950s, but there are some newer units, as well.

The team is based out of the maintenance depot located in Acton in outer London. With a range of education and experience from labourers to highly qualified specialists and even a PhD in engineering, which contributes to the design and engineering component, the internal team is able to design and make needed repairs and alterations to their escalators easily and swiftly.

“The average age of the equipment is around 40 years, and the internal workforce is experienced with the varied escalator designs and maintains the specialist knowledge within the team,” Rowland said. David Jones, technical manager at TfL, added that the escalators were designed for notional 40-year lives with half-life overhauls, which has led to quite robust machines that lend themselves to repair and refurbishment.

Having an internal team gives TfL more flexibility, control and the ability to react quicker. The team is better able to re-prioritise works, if needed, to free up staff to carry out reactive works, which may require dropping or moving planned maintenance to make accommodation for unexpected failures. This is quicker than tendering, getting a price and that whole process. “We have much more control having it in-house,” Rowland said. “When things go wrong, we can normally work together to overcome it.” And with their people on the ground, they can look around at other units in the particular station where they are already working.

With a range of education and experience from labourers to highly qualified specialists and even a PhD in engineering, which contributes to the design and engineering component, the internal team is able to design and make needed repairs and alterations to their escalators easily and swiftly.

Rowland said:

“The level of bespoke knowledge within the team can never be replicated. Many of our employees have been here 20/30/40 years. We’ve retained a lot of labour over that many years, and that brings an awful lot of knowledge. Thanks to that, we’re able to do what we do.”

For example, the team maintains an Otis MH-type escalator from the 1940s that is quite non-standard these days, requiring the sourcing of obsolete parts, as well as re-engineering of designs to accept newer parts. Maintaining this is slightly more complicated than something newer where the OEMs have access to their own components and parts.

A specific location where the internal team shines is Holborn Station, a key interchange station almost in the heart of the city. It has seven escalators with four in the top bank. Failures in either bank can cause lines to operate as exit only, non-stop at that station or possibly close the whole station. This can be very disruptive to customers and impacts the line’s performance. With the dedicated work stream on the internal team, TfL can go to the station, assess the problem, rip the unit out (if needed) and replace it or repair it all in a condensed time scale.

“With an external team, it’s not as easy to have that level of control,” Rowland said. “Having more control of the people with the boots on can really help speed up the time needed to fix an issue.”

For a timely example, the night before this interview with your author, there was a track failure in an escalator. The team had a couple of meetings to look at the background information, figure out what to do and put a plan in place. By the time of the interview early afternoon (and in less than 12 h), the plan had been implemented.

Jones describes the team as predominantly night workers with the management and support teams working mainly days. There is typically a four-hour window each night for general maintenance and repairs. Earlier access can be arranged with the station if longer repairs are required, minimising asset downtime during the day and peak hours.

The level of bespoke knowledge within the team can never be replicated. Many of our employees have been here 20/30/40 years.”

Russell Rowland, escalator maintenance manager at TfL

The Next Generation

Looking to the future, the team is actively bringing on apprentices. Being located right in London helps them attract a lot of interest from younger people in the London area. The apprentices go out with the fitting staff, adjusters, inspectors and so on.

“We’re trying to bring along and develop our younger members, as well,” said Jones. “They get a great view of the maintenance and repairs.”

Being based in London, the workforce is generally quite diverse, but TfL has been working to further improve its diversity and inclusion overall. Jones said that seeing growing numbers of groups that have not always been as well represented in the industry is very promising and a good sign for the future.

Looking forward, the TfL internal team continues to gain assets and equipment as new lines come on board. The escalator team will continue to provide specialized knowledge and expert solutions when issues arise, allowing the riders of London’s transportation to get where they need to go and get there on time. The addition of diversified personnel and new equipment to maintain will only increase the level of experience and knowledge the internal escalator team offers.