§ Mr. MackinlayTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when he expects repair work on the Northern Line escalator at Embankment Station to be completed; and if he will make a statement on the cause of delay. [58317]
§ Ms Glenda JacksonEmbankment Station escalator number 4, an up escalator from the Northern Line dating back to 1985, suffered a major component failure in September 1998. As the escalator type is now obsolete no replacement parts were readily available. At this time however a similar type of escalator was being replaced at Paddington and a decision was taken to attempt to cannibalise this machine and work was carried out between September to mid-October. Upon completion of work London Underground Limited's (LUL) Chief Engineer (Lifts and Escalators) examined the escalator. Unfortunately because the parts from the Paddington escalator were worn and could not comply with LUL's very strict standard, the machine could not return to service.
Since failing in September (and obviously during repair work) the escalator had been covered by hoarding. In a bid to assist passenger flow through the station the hoarding has been removed and the escalator is currently in use as a fixed stairway.
Work is well underway to replace the failed escalator. A contract, worth approximately £1 million has been placed with the lift and escalator manufacturer Otis, which will commence work on installing a brand new escalator in January 1999. (The lead-in time for major components is between 12 and 16 weeks). It is expected that the new escalator will be fully operational by the end of July 1999.