Keep Left, Stand Right

People in London don't walk on the left hand side of the footpath, and on the Underground they stand on the right - the opposite of the road rules.  What's going on?

In my travels I'd noticed that the custom on footpaths tends to follow the same pattern as the law on the road - for example, walking on the left in New Zealand, and on the right in the USA. So I expected England would follow the same pattern.

I was surprised to find, therefore, that in London this wasn't the case. People seem to walk on both sides of the footpath, or possibly more commonly on the right. Either way, it certainly isn't on the left.

I was even more surprised to find that this contrary rule was being promoted on the Underground - the escalators all carry signs telling people to stand on the right. This rule is strictly enforced by commuters in a hurry, as they walk hurriedly along the left hand side of the escalator shaming the forgetful tourists into shuffling out of their way.

Nobody seemed to be able to explain this escalator etiquette, or why it was the opposite of the road rules. It's just the accepted way of things, having been around for as long as anyone can remember.

Well, it turns out that there is a reason for this, it's not just some arbitrary decision made by the designers of the underground. The design of the original escalators encouraged people to do this as a film released a few years ago set in the Underground in the 1920s shows.

The early 'shunt' type escalators ended in a diagonal shape, finishing earlier for the right foot than for the left foot. People were instructed to alight with their right foot first. Given this, courtesy suggested people who were stationary on the escalator should stand on the right and allow the people walking to benefit from the extra moving section.

Mystery solved!

When the newer, safer, modern 'comb' escalators were installed years later the custom was retained.  Which leaves us where we are today.

And if you've ever wondered about the origin of the word 'escalator', Otis.com give this explanation:

The word escalator was coined by combining the Latin word for steps — “scala” — with the word “elevator.” The term remained a registered trademark of the company until 1950, when the U.S. Patent Office ruled it was in the public domain since escalator had become the generic name for a moving stairway.

Back on the streets, however, confusion still reigns, as there seems to be no agreed side to walk down.  I'm going to put this down to the multicultural nature of the city as a melting pot for a huge number of different customs.  But I suspect this odd custom of the Underground contributes, too.