MARTA leaders share updated safety plans after escalator malfunction

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Many Beyoncé fans relied on MARTA to travel to and from the concert leading to a stampede that overwhelmed a MARTA escalator. Leaders are making changes to prevent similar incidents after large events in the future.

Credit: MARTA

Several people were injured at a MARTA train station this week when a stampede led to an escalator malfunction. Now members of the MARTA board are updating crowd control measures to prevent future incidents.

The incident occurred Monday night at Vine City station as fans were leaving the Beyoncé concert. MARTA reports a woman screamed after seeing a bug. That created a panic, leading to a rush on the escalator. The escalator then sped up and abruptly stopped, leading to several injuries.   

Atlanta City Councilmember Marci Overstreet demanded a comprehensive investigation into what triggered the malfunction.

“This incident was a near‑catastrophe," Overstreet said. "Dozens could have been seriously hurt — or worse. We don’t know the names of those hurt, but I hope that at the least MARTA is checking in on these people. One thing I do know: our city must understand exactly what went wrong to ensure this never happens again.”

The escalator at the Vine City station remains barricaded. State Inspectors confirmed maintenance was performed most recently last week.

MARTA Board members met Thursday to share an update. They reported extra staff members were in place to manage the concert crowd entering the station, but not at the escalators.

MARTA Interim CEO Rhonda Allen said they will be more aggressive about staffing going forward.

“Our escalators — really, we ask that we use, when metering, one person per step,” she said. “And that is not what happened with the group of the people trying to come down the escalator. The escalator was overloaded beyond its design capacity”.

During major events, MARTA pulls administrative staff out of headquarters into the stations to support riders and manage crowds.

In total, 130,000 trips were taken over the four-night Beyoncé residency at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. MARTA reports that’s a 25% increase from two years ago during her last visit.