London Banter - US Dupont Circle DC

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US Dupont Circle DC

On Mon, 18 Apr 2005 16:01:57 -0400, Bill Waller wrote:
On Mon, 18 Apr 2005 17:29:05 GMT, Chris Tolley wrote:
On Sun, 17 Apr 2005 07:05:06 +0100, Tree Stump wrote:
This an entrance to Dupont Circle station on the Washington Metro.
Notice that the escalators come up to street level.
Why don't they in London?

I expect it rains more in London.

But it snows in Washington, sometimes it really snows.

I've had a think about this, and whilst there are lots of escalators on
the London Underground that do reach street level, I honestly can't
think of any that do so in the open air. I'll crosspost this to
uk.transport.london to see if anyone knows any better.
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US Dupont Circle DC

On Mon, 18 Apr 2005 20:38:31 GMT, Chris Tolley
wrote:

On Mon, 18 Apr 2005 16:01:57 -0400, Bill Waller wrote:
On Mon, 18 Apr 2005 17:29:05 GMT, Chris Tolley wrote:
On Sun, 17 Apr 2005 07:05:06 +0100, Tree Stump wrote:
This an entrance to Dupont Circle station on the Washington Metro.
Notice that the escalators come up to street level.
Why don't they in London?

I expect it rains more in London.

But it snows in Washington, sometimes it really snows.

I've had a think about this, and whilst there are lots of escalators on
the London Underground that do reach street level, I honestly can't
think of any that do so in the open air. I'll crosspost this to
uk.transport.london to see if anyone knows any better.

The escalators at Canary Wharf come right out into the open. There is
a huge glass canpoy over the top, but that's really to just to keep
the worst of the elements out, there are no doors.

Pictures and some blurb...

http://www.dupont.com/safetyglass/lgn/stories/1608.html

HVB.

US Dupont Circle DC

This an entrance to Dupont Circle station on the Washington Metro.
Notice that the escalators come up to street level.
Why don't they in London?

Washington stations generally have large excavations at platform level:
even with outside platforms, as at Dupont Circle, there is generally a
single big tunnel including both tracks and platforms. Therefore there
is room within the tunnel for a mezzanine level with the ticket machines
and fare barriers, and that's where they're usually placed. With this
design there is no reason for another intermediate level before the
street, and typically there isn't one. (There are exceptions: at
"Woodley Park - Zoo - Adams-Morgan" station, which is deeper than
Dupont Circle, the main escalator stops below street level and there
is a shorter one for the final rise. I don't know if this was done to
protect the long one from the weather, or for other reasons.)

In London the space excavated at platform level is minimized, so the
fare barriers are typically either at street level or just below, and
if there are long escalators to reach deep platforms, they run down from
there. Between the ticket office and street level, if there is a climb
at all, it's typically short enough that no escalator is needed.

I expect it rains more in London.

But it snows in Washington, sometimes it really snows.

I've had a think about this, and whilst there are lots of escalators on
the London Underground that do reach street level, I honestly can't
think of any that do so in the open air. I'll crosspost this to
uk.transport.london to see if anyone knows any better.

In fact the Washington system has had considerable problems with escalator
reliability; having the escalator heads exposed to the weather may not have
hurt much, but it cannot have helped.

One day the last time I was there, as I approached the exit barrier at
Dupont Circle I saw people walking up the escalator in front of me, but
I went ahead anyway, as I knew the station also had an elevator and
I didn't mind waiting for it. Only after I was through the barrier
did I realize that the elevator was at the exit at the *other* end of
the station...
--
Mark Brader "Exercise 5-3: ... When should you
Toronto have stopped adding features...?"
-- Kernighan & Pike

My text in this article is in the public domain.

US Dupont Circle DC

In article , Neil Williams
writes
Canary Wharf does, as well. Coincidentially, this is a new station
which is built in a style not totally different from Washington's
excellent system.

It's probably relevant that many Tube stations were built with lifts
only and the escalators were retrofitted wherever they'd go in.

There's also a geology issue. Most Tube lines were dug in the blue clay
layer, so a large station excavation would require cutting out vast
amounts of hard rock above that. Canary Wharf is one of the exceptions
(the hole was already there and just had to have a roof put over it). In
that part of London big open boxes turn out to work better than
traditional layouts.

Canning Town station has escalators in the open air, and of course
Greenford's emerges on an open-air platform.

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US Dupont Circle DC

I expect it rains more in London.

I seem to recall that that the annual rainfall is about 20" in
London, and 40" in DC

Jeremy Parker

US Dupont Circle DC

On Thu, 21 Apr 2005 19:58:12 +0100, Jeremy Parker wrote:

I expect it rains more in London.

I seem to recall that that the annual rainfall is about 20" in
London, and 40" in DC

I stand corrected. (And somewhat surprised - given the direction of the
weather systems, I expected more rain over our side of the Pond.)

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US Dupont Circle DC