Szablyár Péter: Step by step - Our Budapest (Budapest, 2010)
When the stairs move along. the escalators of Budapest
one permanently in reserve. The track tightening chamber was installed at the bottom of the inclined mother gates with the driving engine housed at the top. Single-exit stations are serviced by four, dual-exit ones by at least three escalators. Safety first There are 96 escalators operated by the Budapest Transport Company in its underground railway system. These are inspected on a daily basis. Although escalators are overhauled every five years only, they are submitted to a thorough checkup every three months. The escalators installed when the system was first built were replaced with more up-to-date ones in several stations. Such careful attention is called for by the fact that the busier stations are used by as many as 80 to 90 thousand people a day. Only one instance of serious malfunctioning has occurred so far, and that was when the driving chain of the escalator at the Batthyány tér Station broke. This happened in the early morning hours, so the collapsing track section caused no injury. The automatic braking system immediately stopped the stair movement. The infrequent accidents that occur are usually caused by irresponsible passengers. A bike race down the escalator at the Deák tér Station On 22 September 2007, the first international metro Downhill Mountain Bike Race was organised by the Red Bull company on the escalator of the Deák tér station of the Budapest underground. Thirty-six competitors raced down the 350-metre track assembled at a devilish speed after the last late-night train left the station. The first ■ Downward, ho!
