# Escalator Passing Lane **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 3, 2002, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-passing-lane/101613 "2002-04-03T17:49:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bobbywombat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@Bobbywombat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobbywombat)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2002, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-passing-lane/101613/1 "2002-04-03T17:49:30Z")
So I’ve been noticing that when I’m on an escalator anywhere in the United States the left side is usually the “walkers” side, while to the right you have all of the “standers”. Some even have signs saying “stand to the right”. Is this just a byproduct of our driving conventions, where the passing lane is on the left? If so, do they stand to the left on escalators in England? Hmmmm… ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2002, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-passing-lane/101613/2 "2002-04-03T17:58:07Z")
From [About Tube etiquette](http://www.thetube.com/content/faq/etiquette.asp) > [@](#): > > Stand on the right on escalators - so that people in a hurry can walk on the left. So no it’s not different in the UK. Gripe. Here in Ireland I’ve never been on a escalator where this rule is kept. It’s really annoying for a impatient person like myself :mad: ---
**Author:** ![pendgwen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3da27b/32.png) [@pendgwen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pendgwen)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2002, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-passing-lane/101613/3 "2002-04-03T18:01:56Z")
I’m American too but I did go to England and France once with my choir and I recall the stand to the right, walk on the left convention being much better observed than it is here. Signs in all the subway stations and stuff like that. Here in the US I am constantly astounded by the number of idiots who stand right in the middle and block everone else. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2002, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-passing-lane/101613/4 "2002-04-03T18:50:02Z")
I have to agree with yojimbo on this one. “Stand to the right, walk to the left” (or vice versa) is virtually unheard of in this country. And especially at the Jervis Centre … ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2002, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-passing-lane/101613/5 "2002-04-03T22:05:39Z")
When people dont observe it, I’ve found politely threatening to kill them usually gets them to move to the right. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2002, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-passing-lane/101613/6 "2002-04-03T22:51:07Z")
This recent [article](http://www.lrb.co.uk/v24/n05/camp2405.htm) from the _London Review of Books_ discusses pretty much everything you ever needed to know about Tube escalators, including a bit on the origins and consequences of the “stand on the right” rule. And to agree with **World Eater** , violations of which should be punishable by death, summarily conducted. ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2002, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-passing-lane/101613/7 "2002-04-03T22:51:07Z")
This recent [article](http://www.lrb.co.uk/v24/n05/camp2405.htm) from the _London Review of Books_ discusses pretty much everything you ever needed to know about Tube escalators, including a bit on the origins and consequences of the “stand on the right” rule. And to agree with **World Eater** , violations of which should be punishable by death, summarily conducted. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2002, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-passing-lane/101613/8 "2002-04-03T23:20:39Z")
Japan is a left-side driving nation, but unlike the UK the escalators follow the same rules as the road: stand on the left, pass on the right. Seems mostly to be a city thing. In Tokyo, everyone follows the rule (not just a social convention, there are signs all over the stations telling people to do it), but in the boondocks everyone just stands wherever they feel like. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2002, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-passing-lane/101613/9 "2002-04-03T23:55:29Z")
That doesn’t sound very safe. Most of the escalators I see (in the malls) aren’t very wide, and for someone to try to push past another person could be dangerous. What if someone fell? The edges of the steps are quite sharp, and if they fell back into the person behind them, it could cause quite a pile-up. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2002, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-passing-lane/101613/10 "2002-04-04T00:37:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BiblioCat \* > \*\*That doesn’t sound very safe. Most of the escalators I see (in the malls) aren’t very wide, and for someone to try to push past another person could be dangerous. > > What if someone fell? The edges of the steps are quite sharp, and if they fell back into the person behind them, it could cause quite a pile-up. \*\* Hehe I just had a picture in my head of a bloody pile of corpses being chewed up at the beginning of the escalator, with a sign saying “the unrighteous always stand still…and to the left” \ ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2002, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-passing-lane/101613/11 "2002-04-04T04:02:42Z")
**Sublight** is correct about _eastern_ Japan including Tokyo. However I’m told they stand on the right in western Japan. (I can’t remember for sure, haven’t been east of Nagoya in a couple of years.) ---
**Author:** ![Essured](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Essured](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Essured)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2002, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-passing-lane/101613/12 "2002-04-04T07:25:57Z")
In Australia, we stand to the left, and pass on the right, the same as the way we drive. If the escalator is small, then everyone waits, but most escalators are of a size that two people can stand next to each other comfortably (so passing is not dangerous). When travelling on an escalator, in peak hour, and especially to and from the train platform, this system works very well. Outside of commuting hours many people don’t bother, IME, and it can be frustrating. ---
**Author:** ![Osakadave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f07891/32.png) [@Osakadave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Osakadave)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2002, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/escalator-passing-lane/101613/13 "2002-04-04T13:00:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by scr4 \* > \*\ ***Sublight** is correct about _eastern_ Japan including Tokyo. However I’m told they stand on the right in western Japan. (I can’t remember for sure, haven’t been east of Nagoya in a couple of years.) \*\* Yes, this is esentially correct here in Osaka. However, it’s not as strictly followed as in Tokyo. Generally at the train stations, it’s walk on the left, stand on the right, for the first 50 people off the train, then stand side by side blocking the escalator. On most other escalators it’s walk on the left, stand wherever you like, (and always block the gaijin in a hurry;) )