110 escalators per day need fixing in Brussels metro

The escalators in the Brussels metro and pre-metro stations are on average 32 years old, writes Bruzz. Public transport company STIB therefore has its hands full with reparations and maintenance, dispatching technicians to the escalators at least 110 times a day on average. The escalators are too old, says STIB, which plans to renew all of the moving staircases by 2028.

The Brussels metro and pre-metro stations have 579 escalators in total, according to La Dernière Heure. Even though daily maintenance and repair of the escalators is outsourced to an external company, STIB employs 15 technicians who are available for daily maintenance. The technicians carry out an average of 110 escalator interventions a day.

The technicians site various reasons for the interventions, from use of the emergency button to foreseen works. But the main reason is the advanced age of the escalators, admits STIB spokesperson Cindy Arents in La Dernière Heure. The escalators are 32 years old on average.

The Brussels-Capital Region and STIB have agreed to replace 14 escalators per year, a figure that is easily met. "In 2015, we installed 25 new escalators," says STIB.

The transport company and the Region aim to renew all of the metro escalators by 2028.