Before moving into the details of escalator training just have a brief look into the history of escalators.Have you seen moving walkways in airports? They are flat, moving walkways that help people reduce the walking distance in level areas and spaces having the same height. This is beneficial to older people as a walkalator reduces the distances they have to walk in airports. Walkalators are also referred to as travelators.
An escalator is different from a walkalator. The former helps people to go to the next floor, while the travelator helps them avoid long walks, especially in airports. However, the principle of operation of the escalators and walkalators is the same. Therefore, those who undergo escalator training can service both the systems.
Conveyor type walkways help people negotiate horizontal or slanting paths and reach their destination. Walkalators mainly help them cover short distances. They reduce the physical effort for older people and differently-abled people. Often, travelators are installed in pairs so that people can travel in both directions without any problem.
Walkalator – History In Brief
All inventions have a history behind them. Let us understand the history of moving walkways through a travelator. The walkalator made its first appearance in 1893 in Chicago city, Illinois, USA, in the World Colombian Exposition as an interesting product. The man behind the development of the first walkalator in the world was the famous American architect Joseph Lyman Silsby. It was designed with two different platforms. One had chairs fixed to it for people to sit and travel and the other enabled them to stand and travel. Six years later in 1900, a different moving walkway was displayed by the authorities in the Paris Exposition Universelle.
The new walkway had three different platforms. The first one was a normal moving walkway. The second platform was a slower moving smaller walkway and the third platform was a longer moving walkway that travelled at a speed of 6 miles per hour. The invention of the walkalator is a good example of the fact that the work of famous writers predicting future scenarios often becomes a reality. The walkalator displayed in the Paris Exposition was inspired by science fiction books written by the world-famous English writer H. G. Wells.
In 1924, a consulting company in New York, USA, the Beeler Organization had suggested the need to construct an underground walkalator in Atlanta. The model presented was very similar to the walkway system displayed at the Paris Exposition. The company had planned to make use of a linear induction motor to control the drive system of the walkway. Unfortunately, the project was never implemented. Subsequently, the moving walkway was manufactured on a commercial basis for the very first time in New Jersey, USA, in 1954. The walkway was installed on an experimental basis at the Erie station at Pavonia Terminal in Hudson and Manhattan Railroad system. The walkway was designed and developed by the American multinational company Goodyear Tires and Rubber Company.
The 84.5 metre long walkway named as ‘Speed Walk’ moved at a speed of 2.4 kilometres per hour. The walkway was dismantled when the traffic pattern was modernized by the authorities. The moving walkway was installed in an airport for the first time in 1985 at Dallas Love Field Airport.
The walkalator moves at a speed that is lower than the normal walking speed of people. If anyone tries to walk faster on a walkalator, its speed reduces automatically to prevent any accident. This means that walkalators don’t help people save time. However, the travelator is a boon for people with physical disabilities and those that are not keen on moving their bodies.
There are two types of walkalators. They are:
Pallet Type
The Pallet type walkalator essentially consists of a series of metal plates that are connected together. The die-cast aluminium pallets of the same size and design are interconnected like a chain to form the walkalator and it is driven by an induction motor.
Moving Belt Type
The moving belt type walkalators consist of belts fitted with mesh that move over rolls. People who use this type of walkalators experience a ‘bouncing’ feeling.
The modern-day walkalators are the end result of several modifications that they have gone through over the years.
In 1970, the British company Dunlop developed rubber walkalators. The company named it as ‘Speedway System’. This modern walkalator was installed at the Ohio-based Battelle Memorial Institute’s branch in Geneva. Engineers Gabriel Bouladon and Paul Zuppiger who invented the system supervised its manufacture and installation. They had developed a prototype even before 1970.
‘Un Jour Une Heure’, a Swiss television program, introduced the ‘Speedway System’ to the world in 1974. The Speedway’s performance was much better than all the walkalators that were in use then. The walkway was widened on both sides to accommodate four people. The speed at the sides was reduced to make travel comfortable to make boarding the walkway and getting off it more comfortable. The walkway fitted with parallelogram-shaped metal thread plates moved at a speed of 15 kilometers per hour.
People were clueless as to how they could use the olden day walkalators. Only a few people who loved adventure used to take the travelator in those days. However, a few people started using the travelator over time. The Battelle team is also credited with the development of moving handrails to eliminate the balancing problems of the walkalator. The company upgraded the system till 1975 but never thought of commercializing the travelator.
In the 1980s, the French aircraft company Dassault Aviation and French public transport operator RATP Group developed a walkway and named it as Trax. The walkway was installed at Invalides station in Paris. They also evaluated the performance of the walkway. At the entry and exit points, the speed of the travelator was reduced to 3 kilometres per hour. The maximum speed was 15 kiliometres per hour. However, the companies could not produce it on a commercial scale make it available in the market because of the maintenance they had to frequently contend with.
In the 1990s, the Loderway Moving Walkway Company obtained the patent and licence for manufacturing travelators. The company installed its walkalators in Australia’s Brisbane Airport and Flinders Street railway station, Melbourne. The company received favourable feedback from the users, but Loderway was not interested in commercializing their product.
French equipment manufacturer CNIM installed a 185-metre long high-speed walkway at France’s Montparnasse–Bienvenüe station on an experimental basis in 2002. Initially, the speed of the walkway was set at 12 kilometres per hour. However, the company reduced its speed to 9 kilometres per hour taking the convenience aspect into account. An interesting fact about the walkway was that it was difficult to use it because of the issue of balance, especially for those that were holding things in their hands and those that were differently-abled or physical inconveniences. So, a separate normal walkway was also constructed by the side. Even then using the walkalator was a challenging task. Hence, the company had to provide instructions to the users.
In 2007, the German manufacturer ThyssenKrupp installed two high-speed walkalators at Terminal 1 of Pearson International Airport in Toronto. The travelator connected two international gates. The travelator was installed for serving the people who used the gates to travel out or return to the terminal. Every year, the company brought out technological improvements to the walkalator. Slowly, the walkalator was becoming more user friendly.
Today, walkalators are available in many places including airports, public places in urban areas/big cities, museums, zoos, parks, theatres, and supermarkets. Services of escalator technicians are essential to install and maintain the walkalators. This has opened up employment opportunities for those who undergo a course in an escalator training institute.
With the increase in number of malls and shopping complexes in Kerala the number of escalators has also increased which in turn creates a lot of job opportunities for escalator technicians and so for escalator training.
When it comes to escalator training in Kerala, IASE is the best institute. The institution has escalator training facilities in Trivandrum and Thrissur with hostel accommodation to cater to the needs of students from all over the state. Experienced and expert teachers impart knowledge and skills that students need to work as escalator technicians in India and abroad. IASE is in the process of becoming one of the top centres for escalator training in India. However, the key aspect that separates IASE from other institutes is its 100 percent placement assurance.
