Good news for commuters in Sweden’s capital Stockholm – three escalators that have been closed for the past three weeks in the city’s underground have reopened.
The escalators at the Ostermalmstorg underground station were back running again on Sunday evening after maintenance and repair work following an accident several weeks ago.
Suss Forssman Thullbery, director of communications at SL, which manages Stockholm’s transport network, said that beams with special sensors under the steps have now been installed so if one fell off – as what happened in the accident – it would not fall down. He explained that the new system meant if a step came loose it would push the ledge after a couple of millimetres, which would then stop the escalator immediately.
However, following the good news for commuters tired of walking up the steps on their way to work in Sunday evening, some were left disappointed the following morning as reports came of that one of the new escalators was not working.
One disgruntled tweeter said that SL must have been in a “joking mood” as one escalator was still not moving and there were plenty of disappointed faces. SL spokesman Johan Nordgren later said that the three escalators were reopened on Sunday but admitted they were unsure what happened to the stationary one.
Thirty-nine escalators at Ostermalmstorg station were temporarily closed after an elderly lady fell through a faulty step and seriously injured her leg on Valentine’s Day. SL has since placed extra staff at stations to monitor passengers on the frozen escalators, while an internal investigation has also been carried out.
A number of escalators at some of Stockholm’s busiest underground stations are still closed.