History of escalators
The first escalator, with seats for ladies and gentlemen, was unveiled in 1896 at the Coney Island amusement park in New York. It was built by railway engineer Jesse W. Reno. Two years later in 1898, the Harrods department store in London installed the first escalator for its customers. But the escalator finally achieved commercial success in 1900 at the Paris Exposition. The first escalator with moving steps, which we all recognise today, was built by the Otis Elevator Company in 1920.
The oldest known plans for a moving walk were drawn up by architect Eugène Hénard for the 1889 Exposition Universelle, also in the French capital. A working model entered service four years later at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. It was presented for a second time at the Paris Exposition, with three walks moving at different speeds – the third of them travelling at 10km/h! The world’s first public moving walk began operating in 1954 on the Hudson & Manhattan Railroad at Erie Station in Jersey City (New Jersey). Built by Goodyear, the belt driving it was 84.5m long with a 10% gradient, and moved at 2.4km/h.
