As passengers in London get used to the Tier 2 restrictions, Transport for London are introducing UV lights to clean the handrails on the escalators at 110 London Underground stations.
The introduction follows a successful six-week trial at Heathrow T123 Tube station.
The UV lights use the handrail of the escalator to power a UV bulb to break down contamination.
These have already been fitted to six escalators at King's Cross St Pancras Tube station and will soon be fitted to escalators at other stations including Bond Street, Charing Cross, Green Park, London Bridge, Paddington, Tottenham Court Road, Victoria and Waterloo.
Esther Sharples, Director of Asset Operations at London Underground, said: “We already have a rigorous cleaning regime across all of our stations but are committed to doing everything we can to ensure that the transport network is as clean as it possibly can be. After a successful trial, we are now installing UV light devices to continuously clean more than 100 escalators on the Tube network. Customer injuries on escalators account for around half of all injuries on the Tube network and, during the pandemic, we have found that some customers are avoiding holding the handrails. We hope that the installation of these new devices, along with the provision of Dettol hand sanitiser across the network, will rebuild customer confidence.”
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I like this new device on the escalators.
Nice new kit to keep passengers safe whilst travelling on the tube. Whoever invented it must have great knowledge.
This device should also be installed on escalators in shopping centres, airports, hotels, office block, harbours and supermarkets.