HL Deb 15 February 2001 vol 622 cc56-7WA
Lord Lamont of Lerwick

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether the length of time being taken to replace old escalators on London Underground is satisfactory. [HL679]

Lord Macdonald of Tradeston

Escalators are an important part of the service on London Underground, and it is important that across the system as a whole they work smoothly and consistently, but above all safely. The management of its escalators is a matter for London Underground (LUL) and they carry out rigorous, routine checks on all escalators as part of their continuous programme of safety monitoring. They have a planned forward programme of investing in new escalators where older ones need to be replaced.

LUL's escalators are subject to very heavy-duty usage, and in many cases they are specially built for each individual location and have to be installed piece by piece on site. The actual time for each renewal can therefore vary according to the location and the inherent difficulties such as space etc. However I understand from London Underground that over recent years the time taken to replace escalators has reduced because of improved practices.

Lord Lamont of Lerwick

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will commission a report from London Transport on the length of time the downward escalators have been out of action at Notting Hill underground station. [HL680]

Lord Macdonald of Tradeston

This is an operational matter for London Underground (LUL); I understand from LUL that because these escalators are some of the oldest still in service on the network a major three-year project to replace all six escalators at Notting Hill Gate underground station is currently in progress.

There are six escalators at the station, historically numbered 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 8. Works to numbers 3 and 6 have been completed and work is in progress on numbers 5 and 8. Actual and programmed completion dates for each machine are given in the following table:

Station Escalator No. Start Date Completion Date Direction of Travel
Notting Hill Gate 1 3 September 2001 15 March 2002 Down
Notting Hill Gate 2 26 August 2002 13 September 2002 Up
Notting Hill Gate 3 30 April 1999 20 July 2000 Currently Up but normally Down
Notting Hill Gate 5 9 September 2000 13 June 2001 Currently being replaced
Notting Hill Gate 6 4 January 2000 14 August 2000 Currently Up but normally Down
Notting Hill Gate 8 30 October 2000 28 July 2001 Currently being replaced

The purpose of the project is to provide a better and more reliable escalator service at the station for the future.