Kyiv subway stations are also air raid shelters.[1] They may have decided
that running the escalators fast to get people to safety is worth the risk.
reply[1] https://visitkyiv.com/visitor-essentials/kyiv-shelter-map/
Yes, they are used as air raid shelters, but they were designed like that in the first place. Some of them lie really deep - especially the ones in the city center.
replyKyiv metro is one of the deepest in the world. We have one station that is 105 meters deep. So even with fast escalators, it feels like an eternity to go up and down there.
I was wondering if there’s something different about the escalator manufacturer or design. Like longer landing areas or boarding area with extended hand rails. If you had any familiarity with them.
replyThat was standard across major Soviet cities.
replyThey were running much faster than the “west” in 2015-2020 too, so I doubt that is the reason.
replyThe Soviet Union used metros as shelters long before it broke apart. If it works for a nuclear war it works even better for conventional attacks.
reply> Kyiv subway stations are also air raid shelters
replyWhen building them, they probably didn’t expect to be hiding from Russian attacks.
That would be a naive reading of the history of the USSR.
replyYeah, weren't subway stations in the USSR dual-purpose nuclear shelters?
reply3mph is a pretty solid walk. 2 doesn't sound bad for an escalator.
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