The Central–Mid-levels escalators (Chinese: 中環至半山自動扶梯) in Hong Kong is the longest outdoor covered escalator system in the world. The entire system covers over 800 metres in distance and elevates over 135 metres from bottom to top.[1] It was constructed in 1993 to provide a better commute by linking areas within the Central and Western District on Hong Kong Island.[2]
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Hong Kong Island is dominated by steep, hilly terrain, which makes it the home of some rather unusual methods of transport up and down the slopes.
Since it was officially opened to the public on 15 October 1993, the elevator system has played a very important role in pedestrianising the Western District. It links Des Voeux Road in Central with Conduit Road in the Mid-levels, passing through narrow streets. The daily traffic exceeds 55,000 people, although originally forecast 27,000.
The escalators are 800 metres (2,600 ft) long with a vertical climb of 135 metres (443 ft). The total travel time is twenty minutes, but most people walk while the escalator moves to shorten their trip. Due to the geographical situation, the same distance is equivalent to several miles of zigzagging roads if travelling by car. It consists of twenty escalators and three moving side-walks. According to Guinness World Records, these escalators together form the longest outdoor covered escalator system.[3]
The escalator daily runs downhill from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. and uphill from 10:30am to midnight. Apart from serving as a method of transporting, it is also a tourist attraction and has restaurants, bars, and shops lining its route. There is an entrance and exit on each road it passes, often on both sides of the road.
The escalator runs through Cochrane Street between Queen's Road Central and Hollywood Road. Then it runs along the entire length of Shelley Street.
The escalator bisects the following streets/roads:
The proposal of the project began in November 1987, when the Government faced the problem of increasing vehicular traffic in Mid-levels.[4] It was an "out of the box" transportation solution generated by a group of civil engineers working for P&T Architects and Engineers Ltd.
In operation since 1993, it cost HK$240 million (US$30 million) to build although it was originally approved in March 1990 with a budget of HK$100m and annual maintenance costs of $950,000.[5] Since its conception in March 1987, its scope and its budget were considerably increased.[6]
In November 1996, the Director of Audit issued a report which criticised the project as being a "white elephant", saying that it failed to achieve the primary objective of reducing traffic between the mid levels and Central, as well as over-running its budget by 153%. The Highways Department's poor handling of the project was the main reason for having five cost revisions of the project since the budget had been initially approved. Director of Audit blamed it for failing to address the risks and complexities associated with the project in the pre-tender estimates, and costs rising because of delays.[7] Land resumption costs were also underestimated by $74 million (or 180%).
The report also points out that a "before-and-after" study by the Transport Department indicated no obvious reduction in traffic congestion.[7]
Since the escalator system opened, most pedestrians gather at the elevated level; previously they gathered at the street level. This has opened up large tracts of intermediate levels above ("SoHo") and below ("NoHo") Hollywood Road, to pedestrians and commerce. Many restaurants have opened around all the elevated level, in the first or second floors of buildings already present.
The Central–Mid-levels escalators have been used as filming locations for several films, including: