Travelators (also known as ‘moving walkways’) appeared over 20 years ago with the initial aim to facilitate the climbing of outdoor steep paths by children in skiing areas. Accidents on early installations led, in 2011, to the development of a first European standard, EN 15700, on the safety of travelators.
Due to the high safety, resilience and reliability ensured by this standard, since then the market has rapidly grown for a wide range of applications: nowadays, over five thousand travelators are deployed around the world. Travelators are present for people transportation in theme parks, golf, shopping centres, and even some large parking places.
For this reason, the time had come to update the standard, taking into consideration new existing conditions. To address this need, CEN/TC 242 ‘Safety requirements for passenger transportation by rope’ recently published the new EN 15700:2023 ‘Safety of travelators for winter sport or tourist use’.
This document sets requirements for travelators for transporting passengers on their snow-sliding devices or pedestrians wearing ski boots or heavy boots for winter sports activities. For other uses, passengers shall wear footwear that is suitable (closed-toe, robust shoes) for travelators. It also establishes that travelators can be used by children under the age of five only if they are accompanied.
The standard also addresses the automatic operation of these devices, without the need for an operator to continuously be present at the site of the equipment. It includes requirements for the prevention of accidents and the protection of users and operators.
Thanks to the new EN 15700, tourists and mountain enthusiasts will be able to enjoy their favourite activities in full safety!
The Secretariat of CEN/TC 242 is held by AFNOR, the French National Standardization Body.
Thierry LEGRAND
tlegrand@cencenelec.eu
