Central-Mid-Levels escalators

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Coordinates: 22°17′1.19″N, 114°9′17.40″E

An entrance to the Central-Mid-levels escalator.

Inside the escalator.

The Central-Mid-Levels escalators, the Elgin Street entrance

The Central-Mid-levels escalators (Traditional Chinese: 中環至半山自動扶梯) in Hong Kong is the longest outdoor covered escalator system in the world. 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.

The whole system is 800 m long, and the vertical climb is 135 m. Total travel time is twenty minutes, but most people walk while the system moves to shorten their trip. Due to its vertical climb, the same distance is equivalent to several miles of zigzagging roads if travelled by car. It consists of twenty escalators and three moving sidewalks.

It has been operating since 1993. It cost HK$240 million (US$30 million) to build. It was originally approved in March 1990, with a budget of HK$100m and annual maintenance costs of $950,000^[1]. Since its conception in March 1987, its scope and its budget were considerably increased. More elevated sections were added to the final blueprint to avoid interference with road traffic, doubling the original estimate^[2].

It was officially opened to the public on 15 October 1994. It plays a very important role in transport in Hong Kong since it links Des Voeux Road in Central with Conduit Road in the Mid-levels, passing through narrow streets. Daily traffic exceeds 45,000 people, although originally forecast to transport 27,000, and using it is free of charge.

The escalator daily runs downhill from 6:00am to 10:00am and uphill from 10:30am to midnight. Apart from serving as a method of transport 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.

Although smoking is prohibited in the escalator area evidenced by the "no smoking" signs throughout the route, a small number of people disregard this.

It is managed by the Guardian Property Management Limited.

1 Bisecting streets
2 Reshaping of landscape
3 References
4 See also

[edit] Bisecting streets

The escalator runs through Cochrane Street between Queen's Road Central and Lyndhurst Terrace. Then it runs along Shelley Street.

The escalator bisects the following streets/roads:

Des Voeux Road Central (德輔道中)
Queen's Road Central (皇后大道中)
Stanley Street (士丹利街)
Wellington Street (威靈頓街)
Gage Street (結志街)
Lyndhurst Terrace (擺花街)
Hollywood Road (荷里活道)
Staunton Street (士丹頓街)
Elgin Street (伊利近街)
Caine Road (堅道)
Mosque Street (摩羅廟街)
Mosque Junction (摩羅廟交加街)
Robinson Road (羅便臣道)
Conduit Road (干德道)

[edit] Reshaping of landscape

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.