Film solves Tube's standing question
12 April 2012
A silent film from the 1920s has solved the riddle of why London Underground passengers stand on the right of escalators.
The film Underground, being screened at the BFI 53rd London Film Festival, shows that early escalators finished with a diagonal so that the stairway ended sooner for the right foot than the left.
The film has a soldier dithering over a sign saying: "Step off: right foot first."
