Fully one-quarter of escalator breakdowns on the Mexico City Metro are caused by people urinating on them, according to authorities.

The deputy manager of mechanical installations, Fermín Rafael Ramírez Alonso, said that Tacubaya and Chabacano are among the stations most affected.

Ramírez urged users not to urinate on escalators or other Metro installations, because of the damage it causes.

He said that other causes for breakdowns include excessively heavy loads, running on the stairs, imbalance on the stairs and objects falling between them.

“There are even users who cut the stairs with knives or other sharp objects, of which we have examples in Tacubaya,” he said.

The Metro will spend 270 million pesos (US $14.3-million) to repair 55 escalators — 25 by the end of 2020 and 30 more by the end of 2021.

Of these, 13 are in the Tacubaya station. They are the most structurally complex in the system and are already undergoing repairs.

Ramírez said the 55 escalators to be repaired this year are located on Lines 3, 4, 7, 8 and 9, and all have been in service well past their suggested lifespans.

“On Lines 4, 3 and 7 there are 49 escalators that are 31 to 38 years old. Grupo Comet [Engineering Services] recommends that the lifetimes of the escalators be no more than 20 years,” he said.

He said that in previous years there were only two companies contracted to maintain the escalators, but now there are five.

The transit system announced in March last year that the organization would begin checking all escalators over 33 years old in order to avoid accidents after eight people were injured on an escalator in the Mixcoac station on Line 5.

Source: El Universal (sp)