Hopes dashed for today’s opening of Moorfields station escalators in Liverpool. Snagging issues cause further delays.
Repairs began a year and a half ago, initially expected to take one month. Liverpool Council is in charge of fixing them. Other groups, including Network Rail and Merseytravel, help manage the station area.
KONE Ltd received a contract in September worth over £37,000. Some parts broke, causing one escalator to stop. A leaky roof above the escalators caused issues, making roof repair the initial work.
Inspectors then found more problems and needed to switch out two big parts. Ordering those parts delayed everything by twelve weeks. Officials hoped it would all be done last autumn.
The council said the escalators needed major work, including cleaning, servicing, and overhauling, to ensure safety. The area stayed closed with fences, and people had to use other routes in the meantime.
Workers recently returned to the site, and the council expected completion today, February 21. But “snagging” issues made that unlikely.
Network Rail plans to invest £12.5 million to replace fourteen escalators across the Merseyrail network over three years. Wirral line escalators might not work until May. Parts came from the US to speed things up, as the company had many failures happening at once.