Escalators
 

I was at Dun Laoghaire station on Sunday and I noticed the escalator to platform 3 was running. To my knowledge, there are no trains running from Platform 3 on Sunday, so most probably no-one used it all day long. In fact, there are probably less than 5 trains a day that run to / from platform 3 even on a weekday. Now, maybe the running cost of an escalator is very little, but if it's not, then why aren't they either:
1. manually switched off outside their times of use?
2. changed so that they run automatically only when passengers use them?

It is the access route from the ferry terminal and is the nearest taxi rank from the station also

The ferry terminal is only used by one sailing a day, so it's not like there's a constant stream of people using it. As for the taxi rank - I never knew there was one there. I doubt it is fully manned/stocked throughout the day. I imagine most people looking for a taxi would head for the rank on Marine Road.

z

The tourist office is down at the ferry terminal as well as well as the underground car park (again little known)

The back platform in Dun Laoghaire is always open and is used at short notice to take trains when a problem happens, been there a few times on a Sunday

Quite a few people use the back entrance, plus there is a Dublin Bus crew room at the bottom of that escalator

a modern one would shut down after a period of non use, the travelators in Thurles SC operate like this.

Perhaps the issue of escalators that don't stop should be revisited now that Irish Rail are clearly looking at their electricity consumption, having decided they can save a few hundred thousand by using shorter Darts.

How long would it take recoup the money saved in lower electricity bills by replacing the current escalators with ones that shut down after a period of non-use?

The new ones in Pearse are fitted

An escalator can cost a few hundred thousand euros. However, it might be possible to change the motors and/or control systems.