Some journeys can be long. Travelators carry passengers and their luggage across airport concourses, railway station passageways and retail floors on a continuous bed of moving flat pallets. Omega supplies heavy-duty units for transit and public infrastructure, alongside commercial units for retail and high-footfall complexes.
Discuss Your ProjectA travelator, also called a moving walk or moving walkway, is a motor-driven conveyor that carries passengers along a horizontal path or a gentle incline of up to 12 degrees. It uses a continuous band of flat pallets instead of steps, so luggage trolleys, shopping carts and strollers can be taken onto it.
These are not competing products — they solve different problems and the wrong choice is expensive to discover at the drawing stage. The salient critical difference is that an escalator has steps, whereas a travelator has a flat pallet-like surface. The application depends on the unique specific need of the project. If there is a requirement for covering distance with a nominal height (up to 10 m), travelators are the correct mobility equipment. In case there is a vertical distance and height coverage is required, then escalators would be the appropriate choice.
Flat pallets for trolleys and distance. Steps for height in tight space.
| Difference | Travelator (Moving Walk) | Escalator |
|---|---|---|
| Operating surface | Flat pallets | Moving steps |
| Inclination | 0° to 12° | 30° to 35° |
| Primary purpose | Distance, or gentle level change | Vertical movement between floors |
| Luggage trolleys & shopping carts | Yes — the core reason to specify one | No |
| Strollers and wheeled baggage | Yes | Not safely |
| Space to achieve a given rise | Long run required | Compact footprint |
| Best for | Long concourses, passageways, retail floors where trolleys must travel | Floor-to-floor movement in constrained footprints |
The choice between a heavy-duty and a commercial travelator is not a preference — it follows from how hard the unit will work, where it stands and what a stoppage costs. Both use the same flat pallet band, the same control architecture and the same standard safety device set. Gradient, width and length are configured within each class.
Transit & public infrastructure — continuous-duty pedestrian transport where the unit runs long hours under sustained load.
A heavy-duty travelator is specified where the run is long, the loading is sustained, the position may be exposed, and a stoppage has consequences beyond the unit itself. The build is weighted towards structural robustness, corrosion resistance and remote supervision rather than finish.
Infrastructure runs are long, continuously loaded and frequently outside, so truss treatment, chain protection and enclosure sealing determine service life rather than the visible finish. These estates also carry many units across a large footprint, so a fault has to be visible from a control room rather than found by walking the run.
| Parameter | Heavy-Duty Travelator | Commercial Travelator |
|---|---|---|
| Specified for | Transit and public infrastructure under sustained load | Retail and commercial buildings on trading or office hours |
| Operating environment | Indoor, semi-enclosed and outdoor | Indoor |
| Traffic profile | Continuous, high-volume, with peak surges | High but predictable, tied to trading or working hours |
| Truss treatment | Hot-dip galvanised | Painted or galvanised |
| Weather protection | Sealed rollers, Dacromet chain, pit water detection, oil-water separator, IP54 controller, IP55 motor | Not required indoors |
| Balustrade height | 900 mm | To project requirement (standard 900/1000 mm) |
| Monitoring | Remote monitor for BMS or terminal control, normally a requirement | Fault display at the machine; remote monitor optional |
| Typical run | Long continuous level links across concourses and interchanges | Level changes between retail floors; parking-to-retail links |
| Typical applications | Airports, multimodal interchanges, high-footfall public complexes | Malls, hypermarkets, exhibition centres, IT parks, office campuses |
Gradient is a configuration within both classes, not a class in itself. Inclination options are set out under travelator specifications.
Long concourses, inter-terminal links and connections between check-in, security and gates. Level runs carry passengers with wheeled cabin baggage across distances that would otherwise be a real fatigue burden; inclined units move baggage carts between levels.
Travelators connect different modes of transport and the buildings around them: a railway station to a metro or rapid-transit station, a bus terminal to a Namo Bharat or metro platform, a transit hub to an adjoining commercial or public facility. A travelator carries that distance so the transfer stays continuous.
Large religious complexes, convention venues, public complexes and major visitor destinations, where people cover long distances between parking, entry gates, main premises and exit routes in dense, continuous flow. A travelator holds that movement at a steady pace and takes the walking load off elderly visitors and families.
Inclined units connect retail levels while shoppers keep their trolleys. In large single-level formats, level runs link distant zones or connect parking decks to the retail floor.
Extended halls and links between them, with high peak flow during opening and closing and visitors carrying material, samples and cases.
Long circulation spines between towers and connections from parking structures to lobbies, where a large population makes the same walk twice a day at the same time.
The figures below cover Omega's standard moving walk parameters and the systems supplied with each unit. Every unit is configured to project drawings — treat these as the selection envelope, not a fixed model list.
| Duty class | Heavy-duty · Commercial |
|---|---|
| Inclination | 0° · 6° · 12° |
| Rated speed | 0.5 m/s; up to 0.75 m/s in some applications |
| Maximum installable length | 150 m |
| Pallet width | 600 / 800 / 1000 / 1200 / 1400 mm |
| Balustrade height | 900 mm in heavy duty |
| Arrangement | Single; paired installations for bidirectional flow |
| Truss | Structural angle steel, galvanised; supplied in transportable subsections on long runs |
Omega's moving walks carry the same standard safety device set as its escalators — supplied as standard, not as an options list.
| Device | Function |
|---|---|
| Microwave sensor at entrance | Detects approach for automatic start |
| Running direction indicator | Shows direction of travel at the landing |
| Key switch on skirting | Authorised operation and direction control |
| Error display on controller | Fault codes for rapid diagnosis |
| Handrail speed monitor | Detects handrail/pallet speed divergence |
| Handrail entrance contact | Stops the unit if an object enters the handrail inlet |
| Comb contact | Stops the unit on comb plate obstruction or impact |
| Chain contact | Detects chain elongation or slack |
| Pallet sinking contact | Detects a pallet dropping below the running surface |
| Pallet missing detector | Stops the unit if a pallet is absent from the band |
| Anti-reverse device | Prevents unintended reversal |
| Static brush | Discharges static from the pallet band |
| Broken drive-chain contact | Stops the unit on drive chain failure |
| Landing plate opening contact | Stops the unit if a landing plate is lifted |
| Machine room fan | Drive enclosure thermal management (standard on outdoor) |
| Water detector | Water ingress detection (standard on outdoor) |
| Skirting brush | Reduces entrapment risk at the pallet/skirt interface (optional on moving walks) |
| Inspection console & lamp | Supplied one per five units, minimum one per project |
A heavy-duty concourse run and a commercial trolley walkway in a hypermarket are the same product family and share almost nothing else. Omega's moving walks are configured across three layers — the machine, the safety and monitoring options and the visible finish. Available options vary with project requirements, site conditions, product configuration and applicable standards, and are confirmed during design.
The questions architects, consultants and infrastructure teams ask most often when evaluating moving walks.
Ask our engineering teamA travelator, also called a moving walk or moving walkway, is a motor-driven conveyor that carries passengers along a horizontal path or a gentle incline of up to 12 degrees. It uses a continuous band of flat pallets rather than steps, so luggage trolleys, shopping carts and strollers can be taken onto it.
An escalator uses moving steps on a 30–35° incline to move passengers between floors in a compact footprint. A travelator uses flat pallets on a horizontal path or an incline up to 12°, so wheeled items travel with the passenger. Achieving the same rise with a travelator needs a much longer installation.
Travelators are used in airports, multimodal transit interchanges, shopping malls and hypermarkets, exhibition centres, IT parks and office campuses, and large public and high-footfall complexes — wherever passengers cover long level distances, or need to change level while carrying luggage, shopping trolleys or strollers.
A heavy-duty travelator is built for transit and public infrastructure: long continuous runs, sustained loading, indoor or exposed positions, a hot-dip galvanised truss with the outdoor protection package, 900 mm balustrade and remote monitoring. A commercial travelator is built for indoor retail and commercial buildings on trading or office hours, where trolley compatibility, ride comfort and finish carry more weight. Both share the same pallet band, control architecture and standard safety device set.
Wherever two transport modes or connected facilities sit far enough apart that the walk between them undermines the journey — a railway station to a metro station, a bus terminal to a Namo Bharat or metro platform, a transit hub to an adjoining public building. A travelator carries that distance so the interchange reads as one continuous journey.
The maximum inclination is approximately 12 degrees under the governing safety standards. Omega supplies inclined moving walks at 0°, 6° and 12°. Because the gradient is limited, achieving a given rise requires a substantially longer installation than an escalator would need — run length has to be planned for early.
Yes — that is the primary reason inclined moving walks are specified in retail. The flat pallet surface allows a loaded trolley to travel between levels with its user, unlike an escalator. Trolley compatibility depends on the trolley type and the unit's configuration and is confirmed during design.
Inclined moving walks are supplied in 800, 1000, 1200 and 1400 mm pallet widths. Wider pallets accommodate a trolley and its user side by side and raise throughput, at the cost of a larger structural opening. Width on retail units is usually driven by trolley dimensions rather than passenger count.
Travelators typically run at 0.5 m/s, with up to 0.65 m/s used in some applications. 0.5 m/s suits mixed passenger populations and makes boarding and alighting comfortable; 0.65 m/s raises throughput on long level runs used mainly by able-bodied travellers.
Moving walks are routinely installed in long continuous runs, with the truss supplied in transportable sections and assembled on site. Maximum length for a given project is confirmed against structural drawings.
Yes. Outdoor moving walks use a hot-dip galvanised truss, sealed rollers, Dacromet-treated chain, corrosion-resistant fasteners, pit water-level detection and an oil-water separator, with an IP54 controller and IP55 motor. A canopy over the unit is also required as part of the building's civil scope.
They are the same product. "Travelator" is the common term in India and general usage; "moving walk" is the term used in metro, railway and airport tender documents and "moving walkway" is common internationally. Manufacturer and standards literature also uses "autowalk" and "passenger conveyor".
Omega moving walks carry a full standard safety package including handrail speed monitoring, comb contact, chain contact, pallet sinking contact, pallet missing detection, anti-reverse protection, broken drive-chain contact, landing plate opening contact and an error display on the controller.
The civil contractor provides the wellway and trench structure, supports, pits, waterproofing and drainage, FFL marking, site access for long truss sections, architectural handrails, canopy in open areas and signage. The E&M contractor provides three-phase supply to an isolator, lighting, earthing, UPS supply for comb and pallet gap lights, raceways, fire signal input and a fire water connection.
Send us the run length available, any level change and an idea of your peak footfall — including whether passengers will be bringing trolleys. Omega's application engineers will come back with a recommended duty class, gradient, width and configuration, along with the drawing set your team needs to coordinate it.
Changing floors rather than covering distance?
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