SINGAPORE: Otis has completed a six-year project to refurbish 231 escalators at 42 stations on the North-South and East-West metro lines, installing additional safety features, improving efficiency and enabling operation at different speeds depending on the time of day.
The escalators are programmed to move at a slower speed at 0·5 m/sec during off-peak hours to be safer for the elderly and young children, while during peak hours they move at the standard 0·75 m/sec to increase throughput.
Safety features include illuminated directional arrows, barriers between the steps and skirt panels to prevent feet or dresses from getting caught, and monitors to stop the escalator if a handrail loses its tension or deviates from the step speed.
