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Here's a Riddle

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There is an elevated lite rail commuter train system in a metropolitan city. At the train stations, there are two staircases. One staircase is designated for customers climbing up from the street level to the elevated train station. The other staircase is designated for customers descending from the train station down to the street.
One thing that looks a bit odd is, at each station the staircase for down from the station is wider than the staircase for up to the station. Why is that?

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Added:	6 days, 6 hrs ago 07 Sep 2025 08:06 CEST

20 Comments on this Journal

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VictorLeason

6 days, 6 hrs ago

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Since the stations are running down, few people are interested in getting on ?

moyomongoose

6 days, 6 hrs ago

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Edited 6 days, 6 hrs ago by Owner

@ VictorLeason

That's not it, because if few people are getting on, the same amount of few people would be getting off.

tailgat

6 days, 6 hrs ago

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slow commuter train and «busy» rabbits multiplying while travelling :-)

moyomongoose

6 days, 6 hrs ago

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@ tailgat

Good reply😀. Not it though.

ElfenSciuridae

6 days, 6 hrs ago

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Factoid (from what I know of the NYC Transit System with similar stations) - Though the original stations were made for a quick exit that can handle more people going out than going in, the modern (post 9/11) stations are made/upgraded for a fast evacuation of the station.

To my understanding, this was also true in the UK where a King's Station fire in 1987 that claimed dozen of lives and station afterwards had their exit stairs widen, and in Japan where many were injured but luckily no one was killed. But there were other attacks that required a quick exit which were hampered by various variables through out history.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King%27s_Cross_fire
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_2021_Tokyo_attack

moyomongoose

6 days, 6 hrs ago

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@ ElfenSciuridae

You're kind of close. However, the reason has everyday practically in mind.

moyomongoose

6 days, 6 hrs ago

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Edited 6 days, 6 hrs ago by Owner

@ ElfenSciuridae

From re-reading your comment, I believe at the beginning of your comment you've answered the reason why.

If what you are saying is, "People getting off the train all get off at the same time, and people coming to board the train get to the station over a time period of 10 to 15 minutes", that is the answer.

Ory2024

6 days, 2 hrs ago

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Maybe because going down is riskier than up? So giving more space to people that are descending could make it safer in case somebody falls or something.

That said, I'm unfamiliar with this concept. I'm very sure all the staircases and escalators I've seen at stations, ports and airports have all the same width.

moyomongoose

6 days ago

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@ Ory2024

The reason is, people who plan to board a train don't all get to the station at the same time. They climb the staircase up to the station a few in small groups at a time over a period of 10 or 15 minutes. A few might get there 20 minutes early. One might even get there at the last second barely catching the train in the nic of time. The staircase going up doesn't have to be wide for small groups of people continually using it each minute for 15 minutes.
However, when a train stops at the station, everyone leaving the train leaves at the same moment. Thus they all come down the stairs at the same moment, and the down staircase has to accommodate a large group of people all using it at the same moment.

Ory2024

5 days, 18 hrs ago

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@ moyomongoose

Oh damn, you're 100% right!

EricAdler

6 days ago

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The reason the exit staircase is wider than the entrance staircase seems rather obvious to me.

People climbing up to the train will be climbing at staggered times, accumulating on the platform until the train arrives.
People climbing down will be released from the train en mass and will all want to descend the stairs at once.

I see a similar thing at work with the old cafeteria room (which, due to not having food service since Covid, has essentially been degraded to a lunchroom). There are two sets of doors, a single door that swings into the room, and a pair of double doors that swing out into the hallway, the double doors are also recessed so that they don't restrict the hallway width when open.
I only started working there during Covid, so this is pure conjecture. Back when the cafeteria was doing food service, people would be entering single-file as they got in line to order food, but they would be leaving in large groups as everyone needed to get back to their workstations at the same time.

moyomongoose

6 days ago

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@ EricAdler

That is absolutely correct. That is the reason why.

coolperez8

6 days ago

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?

moyomongoose

5 days, 23 hrs ago

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@ coolperez8

Everyone going up to the station on the up staircase arrives a little at a time.

Everyone going down uses on the down staircase all at once after getting off a train.

So the down staircase has to be wider.

coolperez8

5 days, 23 hrs ago

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@ moyomongoose

Yep.

Matathesis

5 days, 17 hrs ago

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Edited 5 days, 17 hrs ago by Owner

Knew the answer to this but only just seen the post.

Also the reason that a lot of London Underground stations have three escalators, two up and one down.

ElfenSciuridae mentioned the King's Cross fire in 1987; any widening of stairs/escalators following this were not to do with the fire (as most stations were already arranged thus), but the fire did remove old wooden escalators and forbid smoking anywhere on LU. That said, passenger flows at KXSP are quite high, so passageways and stairwells *have* been embiggened to help passenger flow (see also recent improvements at Bank/Monument station).

ThaPig

5 days, 13 hrs ago

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People going to work are lazy and go up slowly; they don't mind waiting for their turn. People returning are tired and want to go home fast, so they all run down at once. ( ᐢ (oo) ᐢ )

moyomongoose

5 days, 13 hrs ago

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@ ThaPig

Good one. 😀

Especially on a Friday.