Escalators at Alperton

1. I wouldn't call it a shaft as the escalator is above ground. I think I have seen pictures but I can't recall where. There's not much to see but a single escalator.
2. The last time I saw it sometime in the last ten years, it appeared perfectly serviceable to me though I have not been underneath it so I am only assuming that the motor etc remains in situ.
3. As I said I wouldn't call it a shaft, AFAIK the escalator is still extant adjacent to the eastbound platform staircase. In the ticket hall the escalator is behind a door adjacent to the bottom of the staircase and at the top there is a door from the eastbound platform.
4. I have no idea about future plans but I would think refurbishment would be required in order to bring it back into use. Quite honestly I don't know why an escalator was ever installed there and why only on the eastbound side. I can only assume that passengers were once numerous enough to warrant an 'up' escalator to make life easier for those catching trains into the heart of London in the morning rush hour.

LU has a habit of walling things up and forgetting about them. During the late 1980s I discovered the remnants of Holloway Road's spiral escalator when I was installing communications cabling for the Revenue Collection squad who were moving into the offices above the station.
There are two emergency staircases there, the spiral staircase in everyday use and the other staircase built in the original spiral escalator shaft just inside the booking hall behind a door on the left. The bottom of the staircase was signed as dangerous so I called the civil engineers department for details and was told that the bottom few feet of the old equipment was beneath the landing rusting away. The remnants could be seen with a strong torch through a vent in the wall across the track from one of the platforms, they were subsequently removed when the landing was repaired, I think to the LT Museum and the story goes that there was not enough left to determine how it worked!

Brian

An interesting webpage and the first time I have seen it! Noting the mentioned proposal of MIP lifts reminded me that I can only ever recall seeing one of these devices on LU, that being the one at Hounslow West.

Brian

Can't get a wheelchair up an escalator (unless you hold on for dear life).

When I was on the station Group that covered Alperton I was shown the escalator when I was familiarised with the station.

I was told (and I have no idea if this is actually true) that the escalator was installed for the purpose of a visit by HM the Queen and - despite being kitted out as seen in the photo - was never used by the public.

So I can say that in late 1999 the escalator most certainly existed, though filthy dirty of course.

And - to clarify - I believe there was only the one escalator between ground level and the e/b platform; I was not told of a similar device to the w/b.