THE world’s longest outdoor escalator is now open and it covers an insane distance and takes more than 20 minutes to ride to the top.
The 3,000ft “Goddess” escalator soars up the top of a “cyberpunk city” – and tourists can’t get enough.
Riders of the brand new structure in Wushan, Chongqing, China, will navigate 21 individual escalators, eight elevators, four moving walkways and several pedestrian bridges.
It carries pedestrians up 800 feet in elevation—around the height of an 80-story skyscraper.
The metropolis is known for its unusual futuristic architecture so this wacky escalator fits right in to the surroundings.
The city has buildings, streets and public spaces vertically arranged around countless staircases, sometimes creating a disorienting landscape.
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Project design lead Huang Wei told The Financial Times it’s the first of its kind.
“As far as I know, there are no similar projects nationwide, either exceeding or equal to ours, either under construction or already started,” he said.
The area is famous for its extreme verticality making it notoriously difficult to move around.
Schindler China – the installation company – already installed 1,400 escalators across the metro area to ease movement up and down the city.
Conveniently for commuters, the escalator hangs above streets that take about an hour to drive during rush hour.
The new escalator actually replaces a long stairway, making it much more accessible.
Original designs considered trains or cable cars to help people ascend the city.
Construction of the new escalator took four years and cost $23 million.
Since opening on February 17 about 9,000 people have used the escalator each day.
