The longest outdoor escalator in the world just opened and it takes more than 20 minutes to reach the top.
Escalators are often a rare pause in busy routines, giving commuters, shoppers and travellers a moment to stand still while they’re carried along.
Now, that “do nothing but look around” experience has been scaled up dramatically — with an outdoor ride stretching roughly 3,000ft and offering expansive views along the way.
There is one important detail, though: it isn’t a single uninterrupted escalator. Instead, the journey is made up of multiple escalator sections along with lifts, meaning riders move through a connected system rather than one continuous moving staircase.
Built in Wushan, Chongqing, China, the project reportedly cost $23 million and includes 21 separate escalators. The route also incorporates eight elevators, four moving walkways and pedestrian bridges that link the segments together.
The system — nicknamed ‘Goddess’ — carries passengers up around 800ft, comparable to the height of an 80-storey building. State media has also said the entire installation spans 905 metres.
In comments about the scale of the development, Huang Wei — who led the design team and is an engineer at China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group — told the Financial Times: “As far as I know, there are no similar projects nationwide, either exceeding or equal to ours, either under construction or already started.”
So why build something this extensive? The sheer length is largely a response to the area’s steep, mountainous landscape, where getting from one level to another can be slow and physically demanding.
Chongqing has gained a reputation as a “cyberpunk” city thanks to its striking, vertical urban layout shaped by the terrain — with roads, towers and public infrastructure layered at different heights. In that context, an ambitious vertical transport link like this fits right in.
“If you didn’t have such high mountains, it would be impossible to make it that long,” Du Ying, vice-president of existing installation business at Schindler China told the same outlet.
Du Ying added that Schindler China has supplied around 1,400 escalators for Chongqing’s metro network.
According to Huang, building the Wushan installation came with major obstacles, including dense underground pipelines and the need to construct portions of the structure suspended above busy streets. Those routes were already notorious — during rush hour, driving uphill could take as long as an hour.
The new system takes the place of an old, lengthy staircase that was both steep and exhausting for many pedestrians. Early planning also considered other options, including rail-style transport or cable cars, as ways to improve movement across the area’s sharp changes in elevation.
Ultimately, the escalator-based approach was selected. The project took four years to complete and is reported to have cost about $23 million.