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The General Theory of Escalator Energy Consumption with Calculations and

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Article  in  Elevator World · May 1998

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 THE GENERAL THEORY OF ESCALATOR ENERGY CONSUMPTION
WITH CALCULATIONS AND EXAMPLES

Dr. Lutfi Al-Sharif

Published in Lift Report [in English & German], May/June 1997.

Reprinted in: Elevator World, May 1998 (page 74), with permission.
ABSTRACT

This paper discusses the general characteristics of the energy consumption of escalators, outlines
the factors affecting it, and discusses the methods used to derive daily and annual consumption.
The need to be able to calculate the energy consumption of escalators is two-fold.
Due to the fact that escalators run continuously regardless of passenger demand, they
consume a fixed amount of energy if not boarded by passengers. Two methods are outlined to
calculate these fixed losses. One method relies on carrying out a daily energy consumption. The
other is more involved and relies on carrying out a simultaneous daily energy consumption and a
passenger survey. The second method is more involved, but provides a more accurate estimate of
the fixed losses. The fixed losses also depend on the mechanical design of the escalator, and a
number of mechanical design features which affect the fixed losses are outlined.
The variable losses depend mainly on the number of passengers boarding the escalator, and
whether the escalator is running in the up direction or down direction. The variable losses are the
product of the number of passengers, the rise of the escalator in metres, the average mass of a
passenger. Passengers consume less energy on an up escalator if they walk rather than stand. This
effect has been accounted for in the so-called “Walking Factor”. This has been found to be in the
0.7 range. The true variable losses have to be adjusted by multiplying by this factor.
The total energy consumption for an escalator is then calculated by adding or subtracting
the variable losses to (from) the fixed losses for an up (down) escalator, respectively. Several
examples are given.

1. INTRODUCTION
The approach towards understanding the energy consumption of escalators is based on three
principles: Outlining the general characteristics of the consumption; the factors affecting it; and
the calculation of the total energy. This paper will attempt to highlight some of these points, and
point the direction in terms of others.
In some cases the terms power and energy although distinct have been used
interchangeably for convenience. However, the reader has to be aware that power is the rate of
transfer of energy.
When escalators are running unloaded they need some power to overcome friction in the
step-band and the handrail; and inefficiencies in the motor and the gearbox. This power is
referred to as fixed losses (or overheads, in analogy to overheads in a business or a factory which
are not used to produce any tangible product or service; only to keep the business or the factory
going and to support other functions).
As passengers start boarding the escalator, the power consumed starts to rise if it is an up
going escalator, or to drop if it is a down going escalator. The power needed to move passengers

1
is termed as variable losses or variable power (in analogy to the variable costs of producing
products in a factory, which will be sold and will create a revenue).
So, in addition to the fixed losses in an up moving escalator, it is imparting energy to the
passengers (variable losses) and thus is consuming power. Thus, the total power consumed is
equal to the summation of the power needed to move the passengers between levels and the
power needed to overcome the friction within the escalator.
On the other hand, a down moving escalator, is recovering the potential energy stored in
the passengers. The total energy consumed by a down moving escalator is the difference between
the fixed losses and the energy recovered from the passengers. As passenger loading
progressively increases on a down moving escalator, the escalator gets to a point where it is
consuming no power at all, because it is driven by enough passengers to generate power equal to
the losses needed to drive it at no load. As passenger loading further increases, the escalator
starts to feed power back into the supply (i.e., regenerate). This crossover point depends on the
level of fixed losses, and the reverse efficiency of the gearbox.
The main factors which affect the energy consumed by an escalator are:

• Rise.
• Machine type.
• Number of passengers boarding the escalator.
• Direction of travel (up or down).

In the following sections, these factors are discussed in detail.

2. FIXED LOSSES

We can think of the fixed losses of an escalator as the base mark from which it start. The fixed
losses are equal to the power consumed when no passengers are travelling on the escalators.

2.1 Methods of deriving fixed losses

Two methods are described here for calculating the fixed losses for an escalator. The first method
discussed only needs a power consumption survey over one day, while the second method
requires both the power consumption survey as well as the passenger survey for one day (has to
be the same day). Each method gives a different level of accuracy.

2.1.1 Method A for deriving fixed losses

The easiest and most straightforward method to calculate the fixed losses, is to assume that the
escalator for the last 30 minutes of it operation in the day is very lightly loaded with few
passengers using it. If the average of the power consumed over these 30 minutes is taken, this
will be a good representation of the fixed losses of that escalator, with a very small error. The
error will arise from the small number of passengers who might use the escalator in these 30
minutes. A diagram of the power consumption for a public service escalator is shown in Figure 1
(17.2 metres rise and 18,000 passengers per day). It can be seen that due to the high loading on
the escalator, it is still being used in the last 30 minutes, and this will lead to errors in the
estimation of the fixed losses. It is not advisable to use the first 30 minutes, when the escalator is

2
started, as the machine in the first half hour will be warming up, and thus the reading in that
period might not be representative of the whole day. This can also be seen in Figure 1, where the
power drops during the first half hour.

30.00

25.00

20.00
Power

15.00

10.00

5.00

0.00
05:09

07:09

09:09

11:09

13:09

15:09

17:09

19:09

21:09

23:09
Time

Figure 1: Power trace over one working day (power in kW’s).

The same principle applies to a down escalator, where the fixed losses can be found by taking the
average value of power during the first 30 minutes, or the last 30 minutes, or both. As the
escalator is a down escalator, the fixed losses represent the maximum (rather than the minimum
value of power consumption, as the case is with up moving escalators).
Despite of the error mentioned above, this method is very attractive because it is easy to
use, and only needs the measurement of the power consumption in the first half hour and the last
half hour. However, it suffers from some inaccuracy because of the reasons explained above.
This method has been referred to as method A for deriving the fixed losses.

Applying method A to seven escalators, the fixed losses have been plotted against the rise on a
scatter diagram, shown in Figure 2, which shows the fixed losses as a function of rise, and gives
the resultant equation.

3
 Relationship between rise and fixed losses.

12 y = 0.52x + 2.7294
2
10 R = 0.8233

8
losses
Fixed

(kw)

0
0 5 10 15 20

Rise (m)

Figure 2: Scatter diagram of fixed losses against rise using method A for deriving the fixed
losses.

On the diagram are shown the resultant equation, which represents the relationship between the
passenger numbers and the power consumed. It also gives the coefficient of correlation, which is
a measure of how well the variation in one variable (the power consumed) is explained by the
variation in the independent variable (the number of passengers). When this value is near 1, it
means a good positive correlation between the two variables (the increase in one value produces
an increase in the other), while a value of -1 means a good negative correlation between the two
variables (the increase in one variable produces a decrease in the other). A value near zero shows
that no or little correlation exists between the two variables.
Thus, as shown in Figure 2, the relationship between fixed losses and rise can be
approximated by a straight line, with a non-zero intercept. The resulting equation is:

Fixed losses (kw) = 0.52*Rise(m) + 2.729

In other words, the fixed losses of an escalator (in kW) are dependent on rise and are nearly equal
to half the rise in metres plus a fixed amount equal to nearly 3 kw. This 3 kw would be needed by
a fictitious zero rise escalator. We could think of this 3 kw quantity as being the power needed to
run the gearbox and the motor.
From the scatter diagram, r2 is equal to 0.8233, which indicates that the rise is a strong
factor in explaining variation in fixed losses (rise accounts for 82% of the variation in fixed
losses; there may be other factors which explain the other 18% variation).

2.1.2 Method B for deriving fixed losses

The other more accurate method is to use the passenger data as well as the power consumption
data. An example of these two surveys have been plotted in Figure 3. It is very important that
these two surveys are synchronised. This means that if the power survey is taken as an average
power consumption value for one minute intervals, then the passenger survey should show the
number of passenger boarding the escalator in the SAME minute intervals. This has been carried
out in the example shown in Figure 3, where passenger surveys were manually carried out by

4
observers at the escalator landings, using clocks synchronised to the nearest second to the clock of
the automatic power survey unit. Both the manual surveys and the automatic power unit
calculated values based on one minute intervals.

Figure 3: Power trace and passenger trace.

Each pair of readings (i.e., passenger numbers in one minute and average power consumption
over one minute) can be plotted on a scatter diagram, as shown in Figure 4. From the scatter
diagram, the resultant equation can be derived, which it is assumed is a linear one. Note that the
slope is negative, because this is a down escalator (a positive slope would be expected for an up
escalator).

Relationship betw een passengers and pow er (dow n escalator)

12.00
10.00
y = -0.1495x + 10.185
8.00 2
R = 0.8717
6.00
Power (kw)

4.00
2.00
0.00
-2.00
-4.00
-6.00
0 20 40 60 80 100

Passengers (in one minute)

Figure 4: Scatter diagram for the down escalator, between power and passengers.

The best fit line can be drawn through the data points, the equation of which is also shown on the
diagram. When the number of passengers is equal to zero (i.e., when x = 0), then the value of the

5
power consumed at that point is the value of the fixed losses. The equation gives the value of y
(power in kW) when x is zero (passengers) as 10.185 kW. Thus this intercept is the value of the
fixed losses. This method is obviously more accurate, but involves more data collection and
processing. This method will be referred to as method B for deriving the fixed losses.

Relationship betwen rise and fixed losses

y = 0.5453x + 1.9497
2
12 R = 0.9006

10
Fixed losses

0
0 5 10 15 20

Rise

Figure 5: Relationship between rise and fixed losses, based on method B.

This method has been applied to the same seven escalators. The scatter diagram along with the
equation and correlation coefficient are shown in Figure 5. It can be seen that the correlation
coefficient is higher than that obtained by method A, pointing to the higher accuracy of this
method. Using method B, the resulting equation is as shown in Figure 5:

Fixed losses (kw) = 0.55 x Rise(m) + 1.95

As discussed above, methods A and B gives an estimate of the fixed losses of an escalator based
only on rise. Method B gives better accuracy, but requires passenger usage data as well as daily
power consumption. Moreover, the data for method has to be synchronised between the
passenger data and the power consumption data.
Both method however ignore the mechanical design differences between escalator types.
The next subsection addresses this issue, In order to arrive at a more accurate estimate of the
fixed losses for an escalator based, not just on the rise, but also the mechanical design.

2.2 Dependence of fixed losses on mechanical design

Methods A and B assume that the mechanical features of a machine do not affect the fixed losses.
This sub-section attempts to explore the effect the mechanical design on the fixed losses of an
escalator in addition to the rise.
A group of machines, with specific design features have been used for this exercise. The
various design features for each type of machine is shown in Table 1.

6
 Table 1: Summary of machine categories in relation to mechanical features.
Machine type Bearings Guiding system Gearbo
x
A Ball bearings Chain guidance Involute
B Ball Bearings Chain guidance Cavex
C Plain bearings Wheel guidance Involute
D Ball bearings Wheel guidance Involute

The four design feature groups have been designated as A, B, C and D. Each group could
represent more than one machine design. The main three criteria for mechanical design are:

• The type of bearing used in the step chain and for the wheels.
• The type of guiding system for the step chain and the step band.
• The type of gearbox.

The fixed losses for each machine group have been derived against rise and plotted in Figure 6.
Although rise is still the dominant factor, there are differences between the different types of
mechanical design.

Relationship between rise and fixed losses

30

25 C

20 B

Fixed losses (kw) 15

A
10 A D

5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

Rise (m)

Figure 6: Relationship between machine rise and fixed losses for various machine types.

It can be seen from the lines that the highest slope is the line representing the C type machine.
This slope, is dependent on rise, and thus is related to the step band. The main difference which
between C type machines and all other machines which would contribute to higher friction, is the
fact that they have plain wheel bearings as opposed to ball bearings which have less friction.
The other important factor is the type of guidance: chain guidance or wheel guidance.
The group of machines D represents several machines which have very similar curves and thus
have bee n grouped together. They all have wheel guidance systems and are fitted with ball
bearings. On the other hand, the group of machines A have similar lines, but display a higher
slope than the group D. This is because A type machines use chain guidance systems. B type

7
machines have a similar slope but a larger intercept, which indicates a larger loss with the
gearbox or the motor. The only explanation for that is the fact that it used a unique type of
gearbox, the so-called Cavex types as opposed to the Involute type used on all other machines.
This is also confirmed by the fact that the gearboxes on these group of machines run much hotter
than other gearboxes.
Most modern machine designs will be within group A, although some might use a Cavex
type of gearbox or even a helical gearbox.
The equations for the fixed losses depending on rise and depending on mechanical design
features are shown in Table 2. All equation give the fixed losses in kw as a function of rise in
metres.

Table 2: Equations relating the fixed losses to the rise of different types of escalators.
Machine Type Equation for fixed
losses
A (low rise) y=0.9x-0.19
A (high rise) y=0.79x+1.02
C y=1.56x-4.7
D y=0.47x+1.74
B y=0.49x+8.76
y is the fixed losses in kw, and x is the rise in metres.

From this discussion, it is seen that if more accuracy is required in calculating the fixed losses of
a machine, the mechanical features can be compared to the features in Table 1. Once the type of
machine which best fits the machine under question if found, then the equation for fixed losses
can be found in Table 2, and the fixed losses calculated based on the rise in metres. Note that the
results in this sub-section have all been derived based on method A, for simplicity. It is assumed
that the accuracy of this method is sufficient for most cases.

All the discussions carried out so far, have only addressed the fixed losses. It has been shown
how fixed losses can be calculated based on mechanical design and rise of machine. When
passenger start boarding an escalator, variable losses start to be incurred (or recovered for a down
machine). The next section addresses this topic.

3. VARIABLE LOSSES

The two factors which affect the fixed losses, are:

• The machine rise.

• The mechanical design.

The other two factors which have not been discussed yet, but do affect the energy consumption
are:

• The passenger numbers boarding the escalator in one day.

• The direction of movement of an escalator.

8
These two factors affect the variable losses, and are discussed in this section.
However, before discussing the effect of passenger numbers on variable losses, the effect
of walking passengers is analysed.

3.1 Do walking passengers consume more or less energy?

An issue which has been the subject of much debate is whether passenger consume more energy
when the walk up escalators or less. Nine passengers were used to carry out the following test on
a public service escalator, while it was running in the up direction. The first test was carried out
with the passengers standing and the second test with the passengers walking up. The power
consumed was monitored during the test, by measuring the DC current drawn, and the result is
shown in Figure 7, which clearly shows that passengers have spent less time walking, while not
consuming any more instantaneous current in the process.

Current drawn on Moorgate 3 escalator walking test.

25
Standing
Walking

20

15
Current (A)

10

0
21:27:00

21:27:20

21:27:40

21:28:00

21:28:20

21:28:40

21:29:00

21:29:20

21:29:40

21:30:00

21:30:20

21:30:40

21:31:00

Time

Figure 7: Current consumed during the walking test at Moorgate.

The fact that the passenger spent less time when walking, shows that passengers use less energy
when walking up an up moving escalator.
The explanation for this effect can be outlined as follows. Passengers approaching an up
moving escalator, will accelerate themselves up to the running speed of the escalator in the
direction of the angle of the escalators. Once they have accelerated themselves, the only power
required from the escalator is that necessary to keep them moving at 0.75 m/s (i.e., the linear rated
speed of the escalator) in the direction of inclination of the escalator. This power is the same
whether the passengers are walking or standing. The only difference in the two cases is that
walking passengers will spend less time on the escalator, because they are moving at a speed
which is equal to the summation of the speed of the escalator and their own walking speed. The
fact that they spend less time on the escalator is clearly shown in Figure 7. The difference in
energy between the walking case and the standing case, is equal to the energy supplied by the

9
passengers muscles (that is why you feel tired if walking up an escalator, because you have just
saved the escalator owner some electricity unit by contributing from your own body energy!).
Thus, passengers walking up escalators do not affect the instantaneous power consumed,
but use less energy overall.
As for passengers walking down an escalator, they do not return as much energy back to
the power system as stationary passengers would have done, because they spend less time on the
escalator than their standing colleagues.

3.2 Calculating the variable losses

The variable losses for any machine (or gains) depend on the number of daily passengers, the
average mass of a passenger and the rise of the machine. Thus, the variable losses daily losses for
an up machine can be calculated by multiplying the number of passengers per day, 75 kg (average
mass per passenger), by 9.81 m/s2(acceleration due to gravity) and by the rise of the machine in
metres. However, when measured values where compared with this calculation, a discrepancy
was found.
The variable losses on a large group of escalators were measured, by measuring the total
loss, and subtracting from it the fixed losses. This resulted in a measured variable loss for each
escalator. These values where plotted on a scatter diagram against the theoretical calculated
variable loss based on the number of passengers and the rise of the machine. (Notice, that the
variable losses are in fact variable gains for a down moving escalator, and thus have been given a
negative sign). When attempting to relate the calculated energy to the measured variable energy
by using this method, there was consistently a factor of 0.7, as shown in Figure 8. The equation
shows the approximate factor of 0.7 between measured and calculated. This indicates that the
measured energy is 70% of what it should be in theory. This applies equally to the down
direction as well as the up direction (i.e., the energy expended to lift passengers is 70% of its
calculated theoretical value AND the energy recovered from down moving passengers is only
70% of what it should be in theory).

Relationship between measured and calculated variable energy

100
-

50
Measured variable energy (kwhr/day)

0
-200 -150 -100 -50 0 50 100 150

-50

-100
y = 0.6984x
R2 = 0.5405

-150

-200
Calculated varible energy (kwhr/day)

Figure 8: Relationship between measured variable energy and calculated energy.

10
The only explanation for this 0.7 factor is that it is due to the fact that a percentage of passengers
walk up and down the escalator (which relates to the walking effect explained in the previous
sub-section). Thus, they spend less time on the escalator, and thus consume less power if walking
up, and return back less energy if walking down.
Thus, when calculating variable losses, the so-called walking factor has to be taken into
consideration, to account for the fact that the variable losses are reduced due to the walking of
passengers up and down the escalator.
Although a value of 0.7 can be used generally, a more detailed analysis shows that
different values have to be used for up and down situations, and for peak and off-peak times (Al-
Sharif, 1996).

4. CALCULATION OF THE TOTAL ENERGY CONSUMED FOR AN ESCALATOR

Once the fixed losses of the escalator and the variable losses have been calculated, the total daily
energy consumption can be derived by just adding or subtracting the two quantities.
Figure 9 shows a diagrammatic summary of the relationship between the power
consumption of an escalator, its rise and the number of passengers boarding per minute.

Real Power consumed (kW)

UP

Fixed losses (kw)

(0.55(rise) + 2) DOWN

Passengers/Minute
Crossover point (passsengers/minute)
120xFixed losses(kw)
Pass/min=
Rise (m)

Figure 9: Diagram which shows the general relationship between passengers transported
and power consumed.

The following equations can then be used to calculate the daily energy consumption for an
escalator.
First the fixed losses in kWhr per day can be calculated, using the results from Method B,
and ignoring the mechanical design of the escalator:

Fixed losses (kWhr per day) = ( 0.55 x rise + 1.95) x 20

11
Note that this equation assumes 20 working hours per day. On the other hand, if the mechanical
design of the escalator is to be taken into consideration, then the fixed losses equation can be
picked from Table 2.
Then the variable consumption can be calculated using the number of passengers using the
escalator per day, the rise of the escalator in metres, 75 kg/passenger and the walking factor K
(0.7 in general). Note that the final result is in Joules and is thus divided by 3600000 to convert it
to kWhr units.

No.of pass.×9.81 × rise × 75

Var. losses(kWhr per day) = ×K
3600 × 1000

The walking factor varies between 0.7 and 1, and is used to account for the passenger who walk
up or down the escalator, with respect to their percentage and speed. The lower value would
apply to a high percentage of walking passenger at higher speeds. The upper limit (i.e., 1) would
apply if there were no walking passengers.
The total daily losses can then be found by adding for an up escalator (or subtracting for a
down escalator) the variable daily losses to (from) the fixed daily losses.

Total Losses (kWhr per day) = Fixed losses ± Variable losses

Where the positive sign is used for an up escalator, and the negative sign for a down escalator.
If the traffic on that day and the number of operating hours are considered to be a
representative sample of the whole year, then the total yearly cost could be find by multiplying the
figure by the applicable number of days in the year. These could either be 365 days, or more
likely 260 working days per year.

5. EXAMPLES

A number of examples are shown in this section to illustrate the concepts above.

EXAMPLE 1
Calculate the yearly energy consumption for an escalator with a rise of 7.623 metres, running in
the down direction, used by 24910 passengers per day, and assuming that the average passenger
mass is 75 kg, and that the escalator is running for 20 hours per day, 365 days per year. Ignore
the mechanical design of the escalator.

SOLUTION
The fixed daily energy consumption is calculated as follows:

Fixed losses = (7.623 × 0.55 + 1.95 ) × 20 = 122 .8 kWhr / day

Then, calculating the variable gains (as this is a down escalator):

24910 × 75 × 9.81 × 7.623

Variable losses = × 0 .7 = 27 .16 kwhr / day
3600000

12
This being a down escalator, then the net daily consumption will be the difference between the
two values:

Net daily consumption = 122.8 - 27.16 = 95.64 kWhr / day ■

EXAMPLE 2
An escalator with wheel guidance, ball bearings and involute gearbox has a rise of 12.5 metres,
runs in the up direction for 14 hours per day and carries 12,000 passengers per day. Assuming a
K factor of 0.85, calculate the daily energy consumption.

SOLUTION
From the mechanical features of this machine, it matches type D in Table 1. Thus, the fixed
losses follow the equation:

Fixed losses (kw) = 0.47 × rise (metres) + 1.74

Hence the daily fixed energy consumption is calculated as follows:

Fixed losses = (12 .5 × 0.47 + 1.74 ) × 14 = 106 .61 kWhr / day

Then, calculating the variable losses (as this is an up escalator) and using a walking factor of
0.85:

12000 × 75 × 9.81 × 12 .5
Variable losses = × 0 .85 = 30 .65 kwhr / day
3600000

This being an up escalator, then the net daily consumption will be the sum of the two values:

Net daily consumption = 106.6 + 30.7 = 137.3 kWhr / day ■

EXAMPLE 3
An escalator with wheel guidance, plain bearings and an involute gearbox has a rise of 18 metres,
runs in the down direction for 20 hours per day and carries 26,000 passengers per day. Assuming
passengers do not walk on this escalator, calculate the yearly energy consumption, if it is used for
250 working days per year.

SOLUTION
From the mechanical features of this machine, it matches type C in Table 1. Thus, the fixed
losses follow the equation:

Fixed losses (kw) = 1.56 × rise (metres) - 4.7

Hence the daily fixed energy consumption is calculated as follows:

Fixed losses = (18 × 1.56 - 0.47 ) × 20 = 552 .2 kWhr / day

13
Due to the fact that this escalator uses plain bearings combined with its high rise, its fixed losses
are much higher that the other two machines in the previous examples.
As no passengers walk on this escalator, then the walking factor K is 1. Thus, calculating
the variable gains (as this is a down escalator):

26000 × 75 × 9.81 × 18
Variable losses = × 1.0 = 95 .6 kwhr / day
3600000

This being a down escalator, then the net daily consumption will be the difference between the
two values:

Net daily consumption = 522.2 - 95.6 = 426.6 kWhr / day ■

It can be seen in general from these examples that the dominant factor in the energy consumption
are the fixed losses, where in general the variable losses is around 20%-30% of the fixed losses.

6. CONCLUSIONS

Escalator energy consumption for an escalator can be broken down into fixed losses and variable
losses.
Fixed losses are incurred in moving the machine and overcoming friction, and are similar to
overheads in a business. This mainly depends on the rise of the machine. Two methods of
calculating the fixed losses based on the rise of the machine have been developed, and called
methods A and B. Method A requires the energy consumption profile for a complete day, while
method B requires the energy survey for a day and the passenger survey for a day. Method B
requires more data, but gives more accurate results. The relationship between the fixed losses and
the mechanical features of a machine has been also developed.
The variable losses depend on the passenger numbers boarding the escalator per day, and
the rise of the escalator. When passenger walk up an escalator they consume less energy. To
account for this effect when calculating the variable losses a walking factor has been developed
which has to be used when calculating the variable losses. This factor can be taken as 0.7,
although it varies depending on the time of the day and direction of travel.
To arrive at the total daily loss, the fixed losses are multiplied by the number of hours in a
day. Then the variable loss are either added (for an up escalator) or subtracted (for a down
escalator) to (from) the result. The yearly consumption can then be found by multiplying by the
number of working days in one year. Three examples with calculations have then been discussed.

Reprinted from: Lift Report with permission

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES
The author graduated in Electrical Engineering in 1987, and worked for two years as an electrical
and electronic lift systems design engineer. He received his M.Sc. in Remote Lift Monitoring in
1990, and his Ph.D. in Artificial Intelligence Applications in 1992 from UMIST (Manchester,
U.K.). He was then appointed as Senior Electrical Engineer for Lifts & Escalator at London
Underground, and is still working for London Underground, currently as Team leader for

14
 Electrical Design and Lift Projects. He is also a Chartered Electrical Engineer, and a part time
lecturer in electronics and electronic systems at the South Bank University.

REFERENCES
Al-Sharif, L., 1996a, “Escalator Energy Consumption, Part I: The relationship between escalator
power consumption and escalator handling capacity (the ETP method)”, London
Underground Ltd., Internal Report, January 1996.
Al-Sharif, L.R., 1996b, “The use of power measurement to calculate the numbers of passengers
travelling on an escalator”, Lift Report, Issue 1/96.
Al-Sharif, L.R., 1996, “Escalator handling capacity”, Elevatori, 1996.

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