Subway escalators could transport far more passengers than elevators but needed to be long to reach the deep subway stations that doubled as air raid and fallout shelters during the Cold War.

地铁的扶梯的载客量远高于电梯，而抵达被挖深的地铁站所需的时间相对比较长，这些地铁站在冷战时期更用作防空洞和避难所。