New ‘smart’ eco-escalators costing over £140,000 have been fitted at Shrewsbury’s busy Darwin Shopping Centre.
The escalators connect the town’s main bus station with the Darwin Centre’s three floors of stores and provide easy access through the centre to the town itself.
And inbuilt sensors even work out when no-one is on them and they slow down to an energy-saving low speed.
Kevin Lockwood, Manager of the Darwin, Pride Hill and Riverside Shopping Centres, said: “We are delighted that work has finally been completed on the replacement of the old escalators.
“The escalators provide a vitally important link to the town centre and its shops for people using the bus station.
“These are a very large pair of escalators and taking out the old ones and installing new ones has been a major operation.
“As part of our obligation to our tenants a detailed inspection and eport was produced which recommended the removal and replacement of the escalators.
“The old escalators had been there over 25 years and must have literally transported millions of people to and from the shopping centres but we’re pleased to have the new ones in place and running smoothly in plenty of time for Christmas.”
The shopping centre is the first in the UK to install escalators made by Turkish firm Loher although they are widely fitted elsewhere in Europe, the Middle East and in Asia.
The Darwin Centre’s new pair of parallel escalators are over 28 feet high and almost 70 feet long and run at a speed of just over one mile an hour.
Kevin Lockwood added: “The investment in the new escalators is a further evidence of our commitment to the Darwin, Pride Hill and Riverside Shopping Centres.
“We see Shrewsbury as very much a destination town that people want to come and visit and one that has a rich and varied retail offer and the access to that retail offer from the bus station is an important one.”
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