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The central railway station in Helsinki has had no lifts to the Metro platforms since a burst water-main flooded them during the winter - until just a few days ago, when brand-new lifts were unceremoniously unveiled. The only access has therefore been via the escalators.
The station as a whole is on no fewer than four levels. The top level is the surface, where all the mainline and commuter platforms, the tram and bus stops, and the ticket hall are. The Metro platforms are on the lowest level. Between them are two levels with shops on them, collectively known as Asematunneli. There is still heavy repair work going on to deal with the flood damage, particularly to the escalators, so quite a lot of sightlines are blocked more than they would normally be.
There is a separate escalator set between each adjacent level. In fact, between the two shopping levels there are three pairs of escalators (one of which is blocked off for repair) on different sides of a central square. There is a single group of four long escalators down to the Metro platforms from there (which are being renovated one at a time), and three escalator sets from the upper shopping layer to the surface (one each to each side of the street, and one into the ticket hall).
There are also four lifts. One each of these leads to the surface on opposite sides of the street, and the other two are the brand-new ones to the Metro platform. The latter only shuttle between the platform and the lower shopping layer, and the other two serve the three upper layers.
All of this is a long-winded way of saying that as of tonight, it was quite possible to get from the Metro platform to the surface using lifts. Last week, on the other hand, there were big red signs up saying "Don't bring your wheelchairs, prams or bikes to this station on the Metro - use the nearby stations on either side instead." There are, in any case, signs on the escalators saying that bikes and prams are not allowed on them.
As we all know, SCs don't read signs.
I regularly saw people taking prams and bikes up the escalators. Wheelchair users seemed to be more sensible, probably because they are under no illusions regarding the 30+ degree cant their chair would be at, or the difficulty of holding their wheels still when they aren't fully on the step.
Tonight, a large fraction of the population of Helsinki was packing up and heading to the countryside in preparation for Juhannus, a midsummer holiday based around St. John's Day and the summer solstice. Many Finns use it as an excuse to start their main summer holiday.
One particular group of people - whom I could not immediately identify as being Juhannus emigrants or ordinary tourists - showed up at the foot of one of the escalators, right in front of where I was eating on the lower shopping level, with a fairly large colection of bicycles. Since I knew that the lifts were in full service, but the lift to the surface was not very visible, I made a point of, well, pointing very obviously past the escalator to where the lifts were.
I even got an acknowledgement from one of the cyclists, so I assumed my message had been understood and went back to my food.
A minute later, what do I see but the entire party making a procession up the escalator with their bikes.
Seriously people, if you're taking your bikes for a tour for your holiday weekend, surely you can stand to use one of the stations with working lifts and cycle the short distance from there - assuming you weren't aware of the working lifts at this one yet? That's even ignoring the fact that the lift they were skipping was generally working the whole time.
The station as a whole is on no fewer than four levels. The top level is the surface, where all the mainline and commuter platforms, the tram and bus stops, and the ticket hall are. The Metro platforms are on the lowest level. Between them are two levels with shops on them, collectively known as Asematunneli. There is still heavy repair work going on to deal with the flood damage, particularly to the escalators, so quite a lot of sightlines are blocked more than they would normally be.
There is a separate escalator set between each adjacent level. In fact, between the two shopping levels there are three pairs of escalators (one of which is blocked off for repair) on different sides of a central square. There is a single group of four long escalators down to the Metro platforms from there (which are being renovated one at a time), and three escalator sets from the upper shopping layer to the surface (one each to each side of the street, and one into the ticket hall).
There are also four lifts. One each of these leads to the surface on opposite sides of the street, and the other two are the brand-new ones to the Metro platform. The latter only shuttle between the platform and the lower shopping layer, and the other two serve the three upper layers.
All of this is a long-winded way of saying that as of tonight, it was quite possible to get from the Metro platform to the surface using lifts. Last week, on the other hand, there were big red signs up saying "Don't bring your wheelchairs, prams or bikes to this station on the Metro - use the nearby stations on either side instead." There are, in any case, signs on the escalators saying that bikes and prams are not allowed on them.
As we all know, SCs don't read signs.
I regularly saw people taking prams and bikes up the escalators. Wheelchair users seemed to be more sensible, probably because they are under no illusions regarding the 30+ degree cant their chair would be at, or the difficulty of holding their wheels still when they aren't fully on the step.Tonight, a large fraction of the population of Helsinki was packing up and heading to the countryside in preparation for Juhannus, a midsummer holiday based around St. John's Day and the summer solstice. Many Finns use it as an excuse to start their main summer holiday.
One particular group of people - whom I could not immediately identify as being Juhannus emigrants or ordinary tourists - showed up at the foot of one of the escalators, right in front of where I was eating on the lower shopping level, with a fairly large colection of bicycles. Since I knew that the lifts were in full service, but the lift to the surface was not very visible, I made a point of, well, pointing very obviously past the escalator to where the lifts were.
I even got an acknowledgement from one of the cyclists, so I assumed my message had been understood and went back to my food.
A minute later, what do I see but the entire party making a procession up the escalator with their bikes.
Seriously people, if you're taking your bikes for a tour for your holiday weekend, surely you can stand to use one of the stations with working lifts and cycle the short distance from there - assuming you weren't aware of the working lifts at this one yet? That's even ignoring the fact that the lift they were skipping was generally working the whole time.
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