Elevate your escalator monitoring
Reduce costs, enhance customer experience and future-proof operations. Read moreWhy escalator monitoring matters
Escalator monitoring is the proactive alternative to reactive maintenance. An escalator that stops unexpectedly is more than an operational inconvenience – in retail it disrupts customer flow, in transport hubs it affects passenger throughput, and in healthcare or public sector buildings it removes access for people who cannot use stairs.
The traditional response to escalator faults is reactive: wait for a failure, then send an engineer. The cost of this approach is carried in engineer callout charges, parts sourced at short notice, downtime, and the reputational impact of equipment that is regularly out of service.
Escalator monitoring changes the equation. By capturing live operational data – usage, downtime, emergency stops, handrail entry switch activations and vibration – a monitoring system shows developing faults early, so the fix can be planned before the escalator stops. The maintenance visit happens in advance of the failure, not in response to it.
Who uses escalator monitoring systems?
Escalator monitoring is most valuable in environments where uptime is directly tied to revenue, passenger experience, or compliance obligations.
- Retail and shopping centres – escalator availability directly affects how customers move through a building. A stopped escalator on a busy trading day has a measurable impact on sales.
- Transport and infrastructure – stations, airports, and public transport hubs operate escalators under high load with limited tolerance for unplanned stoppages. Monitoring supports planned maintenance windows and reduces emergency interventions.
- Public sector and local authority buildings – duty of care obligations mean that non-functional escalators in public buildings carry liability implications, particularly where alternative access is limited.
- Lift and escalator service companies – for independent service providers, a single monitoring platform covering both lifts and escalators simplifies operations and reduces the number of systems engineers need to check.
Airports: every passenger passes once
A passenger crosses your terminal once. If an escalator has stopped on the way to the gate, that is the impression they take home. A fast repair helps the next passenger, not the one who has already walked past.
That is why availability matters so much in a terminal. At Heathrow, lifts, escalators and travellators have a regulated availability target of 99% per terminal per month, with rebates to airlines when it is missed.¹
SafeLine LYRA connects to the escalator or moving walkway control system and registers when it runs, its direction and every safety switch activation in SafeLine Orion. Your team and your maintenance contractor see the fault first, and the fix is planned before passengers notice.
¹ Heathrow Airport, Measures, Targets and Incentives (MTI) reports, 2025.
Optimise your escalators with SafeLine LYRA and SafeLine Orion
SafeLine LYRA is an advanced escalator monitoring system designed to streamline maintenance and reduce downtime through real-time data and AI-powered analytics. Once installed, LYRA learns the unique operational patterns of each escalator, including usage, performance, and downtime, while also mirroring control signals via its built-in I/O interface.
All live and historical telemetry is transmitted via 4G to SafeLine Orion, a secure cloud platform where data is continuously analysed.
LYRA can be installed on any escalator, regardless of brand, model, age, or condition – providing a future-ready system for smarter escalator management.
The key features
SafeLine LYRA brings advanced diagnostics and cloud connectivity to any escalator system. Designed for direct integration and maximum insight, it helps you detect issues early, reduce downtime, and extend the life of your equipment.
- Advanced data collection – Delivers live, historical, and predictive escalator data to Orion and via email. Enables escalator lifecycle analysis.
- 4G connectivity to SafeLine Orion – Enables cloud-based monitoring and predictive maintenance.
- AI-powered notifications – Detects irregularities like operation of emergency stop buttons, activation of handrail entry switches or excessive vibrations before failures happen. The data collected can be analysed to calculate escalator life cycle.
- Universal compatibility – Works with any escalator system, regardless of manufacturer or age of equipment.
- Quick & simple installation – Mounts easily in the escalator truss, integrating easily with the escalator control system.
- Fast setup via installation app – Configure LYRA effortlessly using the SafeLine Orion app.
Download whitepaper
This white paper explores how property owners can reduce costs, reduce downtime, and gain full control over escalator performance with LYRA and SafeLine Orion.
Results from SafeLine monitoring
SafeLine LYRA and Orion already monitor lifts in shopping centres, hospitals and stations. The results below are from lifts.
One UK shopping centre, 18 lifts. Source: SafeLine Orion white paper, “Elevated lift management for shopping centers”.
Want to see what this looks like for your escalators?
FAQ
Got questions? We’ve got answers.
Why do I need SafeLine LYRA if my escalators already work fine?
LYRA provides proactive maintenance insights, allowing you to detect and fix issues before they become serious problems.
How difficult is it to install LYRA?
Installation is simple – LYRA mounts in the escalator truss and requires minimal connection to the escalator’s control system.
Will LYRA work with my existing escalator fleet?
Yes, LYRA is designed to be universal, working with any escalator brand, regardless of age or condition.
How does SafeLine LYRA detect faults on an escalator?
SafeLine LYRA is mounted in the escalator truss and has a minimal I/O connection to the escalator control system. It learns how each escalator is used and registers emergency stops, handrail entry switch activations and excessive vibration. Alerts and history appear in Orion.
What if my service team doesn’t have time to monitor data constantly?
LYRA sends automatic alerts when abnormal patterns occur, allowing technicians to focus on actual maintenance needs instead of manual monitoring.
How does LYRA integrate with SafeLine Orion?
LYRA sends all collected data to SafeLine Orion via 4G, where AI-driven analysis helps predict maintenance needs.
How do I access LYRA’s data?
You can access SafeLine Orion from any computer, tablet, or smartphone to view real-time escalator status and reports.
How does LYRA help reduce service costs?
By detecting issues early, LYRA helps avoid costly emergency callouts and breakdowns, leading to lower long-term maintenance costs.
What is an escalator monitoring system?
An escalator monitoring system is a connected device that captures live operational data, such as usage, downtime, emergency stop activations, handrail entry switch activations and vibration, and sends it to a cloud platform for analysis.
Is escalator monitoring required by law in the UK?
There is no specific legal requirement in the UK to install a monitoring system on escalators. However, building owners have a duty of care under health and safety legislation to keep escalators in safe working order. Monitoring provides continuous evidence of operational status and supports compliance documentation – which is particularly relevant for public-facing buildings and environments covered by the Equality Act 2010, where non-functional escalators may restrict access for certain users.
Can I monitor both lifts and escalators on one platform?
Yes. SafeLine Orion is a single cloud platform that supports both lift and escalator monitoring. For property managers and service companies overseeing mixed estates, this means all equipment – any brand, any age – is visible from one dashboard. Alerts, performance data, and maintenance records for lifts and escalators are consolidated in the same interface.
How quickly can I act on an escalator fault alert?
When LYRA detects an irregular pattern – such as excessive vibration, an emergency stop activation or a handrail entry switch activation – it sends an automatic alert via SafeLine Orion. Your maintenance team receives the notification in real time, with enough information to assess the severity and decide whether immediate action is needed or whether the issue can be scheduled into the next planned visit. This is significantly faster than discovering a fault through a tenant report or a scheduled inspection.