Why people on London Underground escalators stand on the right – and not the left

Never get in the way of harried London commuters rushing down the left side of the escalator. But ever wondered why in the capital you stand on the right and walk on the left, when on UK roads you overtake on the right?

The people of Reddit seem to have been pondering that very question, with a heated debate ensuing on the online platform. 

‘In the UK we drive on the left and overtake on the right on all the motorways etc. Why in London on the underground stairs and escalators do you stand on the right and overtake on the left? Anyone else find that interesting?’ one user asked on the r/london thread. 

One commenter had a theory that it was to do with being left or right handed. ‘Most ppl are right handed and naturally stand on the right to hold the hand rail with their dominant hand. Making the left side emptier for those who want to walk,’ they wrote. Other speculations suggested that the tradition came from the fact that we drive on the left, and one person even said it stemmed from Henry VII, who was very superstitious and would only walk up stairs on the left. 

However, there’s actually a solid reason why Londoners stand on the right, and it’s to do with the design of the city’s first escalators.

When the capital’s premier escalator was installed at Earl’s Court station in 1911, travellers were not able to disembark from the moving staircase in the same direction of their travel. Instead, the base of the escalator had a diagonal end that forced passengers to get off the staircase to the left side. That meant that, naturally, people walking should go down the left as they would be able to get off first. If you’re finding it hard to visualise, you can see a diagram here. 

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