Escalators
Since 1968, CNIM has supplied 4,500 escalators for intensive use in subways, railway stations and airports. The majority of them are still in service and are recognized for their reliability and longevity. Today, this activity employs 190 people in France and Asia.
Design and manufacturing of escalators for intensive use
CNIM escalators are marketed for intensive use in subways, railway stations, airports and shopping centers. Designed mainly in the Group’s workshops at La Seyne-sur-Mer in southern France and manufactured by our Chinese subsidiary CTE, CNIM’s escalators are sold in countries throughout Europe and Asia.
The maintenance activity for all countries except China and Singapore was sold in 2009. However, CNIM continues to manufacture and install escalators around the world.

A heavy duty design
Their key strength is durability, due to a ‘heavy duty’ design that combines high-quality components and CNIM’s unique technical expertise. The escalators also benefit from the Group’s high added-value competences in mechanics. These competences have been developed from other industries - such as defense and the nuclear sector - which require complex objects to be designed and then integrated into strategic pieces of equipment. In addition, our escalators benefit from the well-proven design methodology developed by CNIM’s engineering teams.
The considerable longevity of the equipment is also down to the supply of spare parts manufactured by CNIM.
Escalators that last…
- Paris: CNIM escalators were installed in the Paris metro at the end of the 1960s – and they are still in service today. Those belonging to the Paris transport authority, the RATP, have been refurbished several times. The escalators at the Place de l’Étoile, by the Champs Élysées and the Arc de Triomphe, were manufactured in the 1970s. More than 40 years later, they are still working.
- Beijing: CNIM escalators were manufactured for the Chinese capital in 1996, and have already provided 20 years of reliable service.
- Hong Kong: Home to one of the most intensively-used subway networks in the world, the escalators here operate 20 hours a day at 0.75 meters/second (compared to 0.65 m/s in France). Manufactured in the early 1980s, they were only upgraded after 30 years’ service. They have covered a distance equivalent to 15 round-the-world trips, in 31 years (611,000 kilometers).
Production of spare parts
CNIM has been manufacturing spare parts for the escalators designed by the Group since 1968. Those parts have played a key role in guaranteeing the longevity of the equipment. About 99% of the spares are manufactured in China by our subsidiary, CTE, and are delivered to customers either from China, Hong Kong or France. The biggest user base for spare parts is in Hong Kong.
Escalator maintenance in China and Singapore
While the maintenance activities in other countries were sold in 2009, they remain within the CNIM Group for China and Singapore – with Singapore hosting the largest maintenance facility. Operated by a team of 38 people, it maintains a total of 202 escalators. CNIM also maintains the escalators installed in the Canton and Shenzhen subways.
The services provided are:
- Corrective interventions
- Periodic preventive maintenance, as stipulated by the CNIM maintenance manual

Latest installations in 2016
- Guangzhou: 210 escalators are being installed on subway lines 7 and 13
- Singapore: 202 escalators already in service out of 239 ordered for various stations in the city state (Downtown Line – Circle Extension Line)
- Budapest: 91 escalators for Line 4 (the latest subway line to open in Europe)
Our references in escalators in the world
Country | Town | Client | Number of escalators | Application |
Algeria | Algers | EMA | 23 | Metro |
Belgium | Brussels | STIB/SCFB | 450 | Metro & Railway |
Canada | Montreal | STCUM | 230 | Metro |
Canada | Toronto | GTAA | 161 | Airport |
China | Hong Kong | MTRC | 655 | Metro |
China | Guangzhou | GMTC | 265 (55 into service) | Metro |
China | Hong Kong | AA | 140 | Airport |
China | Shenzhen | MTRC | 74 | Metro |
China | Beijing | BMTRC | 52 | Metro & Railway |
Egypt | Cairo | NAT | 156 | Metro |
England | London | LUL | 23 | Metro |
France | Paris | RATP | 450 | Metro |
France | Lille | CUDL | 230 | Metro |
France | Miscellaneous | SNCF | 163 | Railway |
France | Marseille | RTM | 104 | Metro |
France | Toulouse | TISSEO | 83 | Metro |
France | Rennes | SEMTCAR | 32 | Metro |
Hungary | Budapest | BKV | 97 | Metro |
Mexico | Mexico | COVITUR | 105 | Metro |
Singapore | Singapore | LTA | 392 (203 into service) | Metro |
Taïwan | Taïpeï | DORTS | 121 | Metro |
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