There's nothing wrong with running up the escalator. The issue is people crowding to the right to make room for the people doing it, which decreases the capacity for everyone else.
The normal situation with escalators on the tube is that the flow of people onto the escalators is less than that which would cause a queue to build up.
That is not surprising, as the system has been designed so that there is sufficient capacity on the escalators to handle the flow of people.
However, at one or two stations during rush hour the situation can be different.
Sometimes the flow of people can be such that a queue builds up.
It is debatable, though, what would happen then if people walked on both sides of the escalator.
The queue would not move twice as fast, as people will not walk on side by side.
Another problem is that people with luggage take more than one person's width.
Standing two abreast may jam up the escalator, so that people are unable to get off easily at the top.
According to the article, the problem they had was that on really long escalators, not many people bothered to run, so the capacity was indeed too low.
The solution is simple: cattle prods for people on the left who run too slow. That'll get them up it faster. Seriously, what a bunch of lazy people. I can understand elderly or obese people not running up the escalator (which is why the right needs to be reserved for them), but the rest of you have no excuse.
Here in Washington, DC, for instance, our Metro system has several escalators that are 200 feet or more in length (http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/23038/what-are-the-...). The longest one, in the station in suburban Wheaton, Maryland, is 230 feet long and climbs 115 feet vertically over that length. (Photo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheaton_station#/media/File:Wh...) Long, steep escalators like that make a challenging climb even for the young and fit.
Granted, the individual spans are less than that, but if you can rest on a landing between spans, you can also just... well, ride the step you're on.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central–Mid-Levels_escalator_a...
Long, steep escalators like that make a challenging
climb even for the young and fit.
Yes, the problem is the people crowding right to stand still. People that won't even make the effort to climb the escalator at all should just stay home with fast-food delivery and watch their butts grow. The rest of us have places to go and enjoy making a little effort to get there.
Instead of walk-left, stand right it should be walk right, run left, and stand at home where serious people don't have to waste time queueing behind you.
There is no reason for anyone to run up an escalator unless they are in a hurry, and it's only going to save them a couple seconds. Then you are still going to get stuck behind a crowd of people walking up a regular stairs or hallway, where people aren't expected to crowd to the right for you to run past. Why should it be different on escalators?