Beyoncé Concert Chaos: MARTA Explains Escalator Malfunction, Adds New Crowd Controls

MARTA’s got the escalator back up and running after that mess during the Beyoncé concert in July—the one where a ton of people got hurt. They wrapped up their investigation, and too many people piled onto the escalator at once, which made it go way faster than it should’ve.

This all happened just after midnight on July 15, right after Beyoncé’s last Cowboy Carter show at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The way MARTA tells it, someone freaked out over a bug, started screaming, and then a crowd surged onto the escalator at the Vine City station. Chaos, basically.

MARTA’s escalator reopened post Beyonce concert chaos

The next morning, inspectors showed up and said, yes, the escalator sped up because there were just too many people on it. Eventually, it stopped, but not before a bunch of people got hurt.

Later on, investigators from the Georgia Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner’s Office found that four drive belts were missing from the escalator. They didn’t say if the belts were already gone before the crowd rushed it or if they came off during the incident.

MARTA’s team looked into it and said no, the belts weren’t missing before. According to their report, the sudden crowd caused the escalator to speed up, which messed with the belts and triggered the emergency brakes.

Maintenance records show the escalator had been checked out less than a week before all this happened. It passed inspection, everything was in place, nothing out of the ordinary.

Once they finished the investigation, MARTA and the company that services their escalators, Schindler, swapped out all the parts and ran a bunch of safety checks. The state inspector came back, did one last check, and gave the green light to reopen.

What did MARTA say? 

MARTA pointed out that their GWCC Station usually gets slammed during events at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, but Vine City sees big spillover crowds because it’s so close.

They said they had extra staff at both stations before and after the Beyoncé concert, like they’d done the previous nights of her shows.

Now, MARTA says they’re stepping up measures for big events like more staff on hand, barricades, clearer signs telling people to get on the escalator one at a time, and more police and EMS support at busy stations. 

Their teams will be on the platforms to help with crowd control and train loading, too. Schindler and MARTA’s elevator/escalator crew will keep an eye on things and jump in if something goes sideways.

Ralph McKinney, MARTA’s safety chief, said they’re always checking and maintaining the escalators, and that customers need to follow the instructions and board single file. 

Also, MARTA’s close to finishing a massive overhaul of all their elevators and escalators i.e.150 units across 38 stations are getting refurbished or replaced.