Chueca Station will have two new escalators in April
Chueca Station, on Line 5, will have two new escalators as of next April. The first of them will come into service on 22 February and after that work will start on the installation of the second one. These new escalators will assure accessibility between the forecourt and the platform distribution area.
Today the Secretary of Transport, Housing and Infrastructure of the Community of Madrid, Pedro Rollán, supervised the working tests of the first of the escalators prior to its entry into service next week. “The renovations of these equipment items is basically aimed at enhancing the comfort of users and improving accessibility and transit within the station”, he pointed out.
The escalator improvement works at Chueca Station have a budget of 388,765 euro. They will be provided with latest technology equipment in keeping with the Metro’s commitment to the renovation of those facilities that are close to the end of their useful life and the day-by-day improvement of the quality of the service.
The works are being carried out at night outside service hours, from 2-6 a.m. All the operations are scheduled so that they affect the normal transit of users through the station as little as possible.
The new models will be equipped with all the technologies built into these devices in recent times and they will be reversible. They will be provided with fire detection and water mist extinguishing systems and the latest generation safety features to prevent trapping in the boarding and landing areas, at the handrails and between plate combs and steps, amongst others.
The lighting is made up of low consumption fittings. The escalators will have independent wiring and protection systems at the main low voltage switchboard. The design of these models keeps the noise and vibration of these models down to a minimum. In addition, both these escalators will be connected up to the Maintenance Operations and Installations and Telecommunications Monitoring Centre (COMMIT) and the Control Post so as to be able to be operated from these centres.
During this act the Regional Secretary of Transport presented the campaign that Metro Madrid is starting off today regarding responsible use of the escalators. Through the network advertising carriers, Canal Metro and the Company’s profiles in the social networks, advice will be offered on the proper use of these facilities in order to prevent eventual accidents and so that they may be used in the safest way possible.
ADVANCES IN ACCESSIBILITY
The renovation of the Chueca Station escalators is a fresh step as part of the commitment of the Community of Madrid to improving accessibility in the whole metro network. In this respect, last August the Regional Government approved an investment of 20.3 million in four years for modernizing the metro escalators with a view to assuring their reliability and reducing the operating failures that might take place to a minimum.
This investment will comprise the replacement of the step chains and the modernizing of the components subject to wear in 298 escalators, the supply of 24 new step chains, and the specific reconditioning of the handrails on 395 escalators. Since 2014, Metro has also invested a further 13.5 million euro in the renewal of another 239 escalators distributed around 79 stations.
This investment in the network escalators should be added to the new Metro Accessibility Plan, which is endowed with 141.1 million euro. This plan will permit improvement operations in the metro network by way of the installation of more than eighty lifts and remodelling 29 stations between 2016 and 2020. The aim is to meet the mobility needs of all Madrilenians, particularly the 322,000 persons with disabilities living in the Community.
With 1,698 escalators and 512 lifts in the whole network, Metro Madrid is the world’s leading Underground system in the area of accessibility.
