Passenger Trains > Escalator Failure at NY Penn Station

For 50 years, it has whisked commuters and visitors from Penn Station up and into the streets of New York City, saving them a few steps on their journey.

Now the escalator at Seventh Avenue and West 32nd Street has been broken for weeks and won't be fixed until spring -- an eternity for anyone disabled, carrying luggage or averse to climbing stairs.

"It's been too long," said Derrick Van Linton, 54 years old, a blind financial planner with a white cane who slowly climbed the 34 stairs to the street, unaided by an upward lift. "I'm entitled to it, and so are all the other paying customers. Are they just trying to save on electricity?"

"They," it turns out, is Amtrak.

The national passenger railroad owns the bustling station it shares with the Long Island Rail Road, NJ Transit and the New York City subway.

For now, when untold numbers of commuters and visitors approach the escalator, they encounter only its frame walled off by plywood painted baby blue.

Penn Station has other escalators at other exits, of course. But a sign apologizing "for any inconvenience" doesn't ease frustration.

"I almost broke my back," said Karina Sawan, a 34-year-old pharmacist from Morristown, N.J., who needed a helping hand to lug two heavy roller suitcases up the stairs ahead of her trip to Beirut by way of John F. Kennedy International Airport.

Amtrak said it had no choice.

First installed in 1965, the escalator recently fell into disrepair, posing a safety risk, a railroad spokesman said.

The upward escalator's main drive motor seized shortly after Jan. 1. A half-century of dirt, grime and exposure to the elements made necessary an overhaul or replacement of its components, from its stairs to chain to hand rails, the spokesman said. Estimated cost: $300,000.

Two Amtrak engineers have been assigned the task full-time, along with other staff as needed, he said. The work is expected to be completed by late March or early April.

"It's taken time to disassemble the mechanism, clean the assembly and order parts," the spokesman said. "The actual rebuilding process will move more quickly than the first stages of the project."

Simply reversing the down escalator isn't an option. The Amtrak spokesman said the moving staircase has been rolling the same way for about 50 years, and won't run in the opposite direction more than a few minutes before breaking down.

***

WSJ

Really?

This is Typical for ALL the infrastructure in the US and many
other countries!

Instead of budgeting for normal ongoing repairs, those in charge
everywhere, politicians, executives, bean counters and more, would
rather spend lots and lots of money on the TRINKETS and the FLASHY!!

It takes all of us to constantly demanding these infrastructure repairs
are funded and made on a regular and ongoing schedule!

Mike

Would never happen at JFK? Let's face it, those using Penn Station are mostly treated like second class, or no class,in spite of the huge numbers. Anybody remember the famouse rat quote about arriving in NYC? Moynihan I believe.

2720 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This is Typical for ALL the infrastructure in the
> US and many
> other countries!
>
> Instead of budgeting for normal ongoing repairs,
> those in charge
> everywhere, politicians, executives, bean counters
> and more, would
> rather spend lots and lots of money on the
> TRINKETS and the FLASHY!!
>
> It takes all of us to constantly demanding these
> infrastructure repairs
> are funded and made on a regular and ongoing
> schedule!
>
> Mike

Considering the OP, I was totally expecting a funding proposal for the construction of HSE (High Speed Escalator). Should be flashy enough! :-)

2720 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This is Typical for ALL the infrastructure in the
> US and many
> other countries!
>
> Instead of budgeting for normal ongoing repairs,
> those in charge
> everywhere, politicians, executives, bean counters
> and more, would
> rather spend lots and lots of money on the
> TRINKETS and the FLASHY!!
>
> It takes all of us to constantly demanding these
> infrastructure repairs
> are funded and made on a regular and ongoing
> schedule!
>
> Mike

You make a great point. However, it is incredibly difficult to get the public to support raising taxes to fund repairs of existing roads and bridges which are used by far more people than passengers passing through Penn Station. Each year, the American Society of Civil Engineers issues its report card explaining in no uncertain terms deficiencies in American infrastructure and, it seems that most of the public just does not want to hear about it.