London's Escalators Circle the Globe Twice Weekly

Beneath the streets of London, a hidden marathon is being run every single day. The 426 escalators of the London Underground—the oldest metro system in the world—are constantly churning, carrying millions of commuters up and down through the city's labyrinthine tunnels.

But here's where it gets truly staggering: if you added up all the distance those escalator steps travel in a week, they'd cover roughly 100,000 kilometers. That's enough to circle the entire Earth more than twice.

The Numbers Behind the Journey

The London Underground moves approximately 5 million passengers on a typical weekday. Those passengers rely on escalators at 270 of the network's 272 stations. Some stations, like Angel on the Northern line, feature escalators that are genuine engineering marvels—Angel's escalator has a vertical rise of 27 meters, making it the longest on the entire network.

Each escalator runs for roughly 20 hours per day, pausing only for maintenance and the brief overnight closure. The steps move at a steady 0.75 meters per second, which might not sound fast, but when you multiply that by:

• 426 escalators
• 20 hours of daily operation
• 7 days a week

You quickly arrive at astronomical distances.

A History of Going Up

The first escalator on the Underground was installed at Earl's Court station in 1911. Londoners were so suspicious of the newfangled contraption that the railway hired a man named "Bumper" Harris—a one-legged employee—to ride up and down all day, proving that if he could manage it safely, anyone could.

Today, the escalators are so integral to the system that there's a dedicated team of 150 engineers working around the clock to keep them running. When an escalator breaks down at a busy station during rush hour, the ripple effects are immediate—queues form, tempers flare, and Twitter lights up with complaints.

The Wooden Step Mystery

Look closely at your feet next time you're riding the Tube escalators, and you might notice something surprising: many of them still have wooden treads. These aren't antiques forgotten by maintenance—they're actually preferred for their durability and their satisfying "clack" that lets engineers diagnose problems by sound alone.

The wooden slats are made from sustainable forests and can last for decades with proper care. Each escalator contains over 100 individual steps, and replacing them is a delicate operation that typically happens during weekend closures.

Around the World, Underground

So the next time you're standing on a Tube escalator, phone in hand, barely registering the gentle hum beneath your feet, consider this: you're part of a collective journey that spans the globe twice over, every single week. Those mechanical stairs aren't just lifting you to street level—they're racking up enough miles to put frequent flyers to shame.

And unlike an airplane, they never charge for extra luggage.