Fixed escalator makes troubling noise

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - An escalator is back working at the Metro rail's busiest subway station. However, now people are left wondering why there is a high-pitch noise coming from it.

The escalator at the University Station had been out for many months now and riders were beyond fed up with the inconvenience . The escalator is one of the two in the station. The escalator that takes passengers up from the train platform had been working, but the escalator going down was broken, and the steep stairs going down can be daunting.

The escalator had been out of service since last Spring.

A spokesperson for the NFTA told News 4 earlier this month that the escalator was rebuilt, instead of repaired, at a cost of over $300,000. But now, when approaching the top of the escalator, a high-pitched squeaking noise can be heard coming from the moving staircase.

NFTA Spokesman Doug Hartmayer assures the contractor is working on the problem.

"I know people who bought million dollars homes and that doesn't mean they're not going to have a punch list at the end of the day. Or people who have driven out of a Cadillac dealership and all of a sudden there's a squeaky wheel or the brakes squeak. You take it back to the dealership. That's not unheard of. Yeah, it was $332,000, and there are thousands of parts," Hartmayer said.

The squeaking was coming from a hand rail. A little lubrication solved the problem.