The “Moving Up” post recalled an unforgettable moment in my past, when I still rode the Washington Metro somewhat sporadically (my youth was spent riding busses, before the advent of the Metro).  It was the first time I confronted the escalator at the DuPont Circle stop.  I was going to a math talk with a friend and we were busy discussing math when I stepped onto the escalator.  Suddenly, I looked up and saw the stairs disappearing 188 feet into the heavens and froze.  I have always been afraid of heights, and the escalator brought out all the customary terror.  There was of course no turning back.  And then people started bolting up the stairs past me, not always avoiding brushing by.

My hand was clamped to the handrail in a death grip.  I had to hold on even tighter as the sweat of fear made my hands slippery.  In such situations I often feel a sense of vertigo or loss of balance.  It was then that I thought the handrail was moving faster than the steps so that I was being pulled forward.  I couldn’t tell if it was the vertigo or an actual movement.  In any case, I periodically let go and repositioned my death grip.  After an eternity, it was over, and I staggered out into the street.  Needless to say, on our return I sought out the elevator.  Fortunately, it was working—not always the case in the Washington Metro.

Once my brain was functioning a bit, I pondered the question of the relative speeds of the handrail and steps.  How could they be synchronized?  But after a while I left it as an interesting curiosity.

(Update 9/13/2025) The Railing Does Move Faster

So I didn’t imagine it.  This recent 22 min Youtube video from Veritasium “The Most Dangerous Escalator in Rome” describes the history and mechanism of an escalator in explaining the tragedy that occurred in Rome in 2018.

At 10 min 22 sec in the video the narrator describes the mechanism for the handrail movement.  And sure enough, a new handrail drive wheel is calibrated to move about 2% faster than the steps.  As the wheel wears down, the handrail slows down.  Hopefully the wheel is replaced before the handrail moves slower than the steps.

The whole video about the incident and escalators is fascinating.

See Escalator Terror