The shortest escalator on London Underground network so ridiculously small it only takes 5 seconds to ride from top to bottom

London's Underground system is home to 451 escalators across all stations, but one is so short it's comical. Whilst Waterloo holds the accolade for the most escalators in a single station (23) and Angel has the longest escalator, the station with the shortest escalator in the whole of the London Underground is Stratford.

Stratford station, located in East London at the end of the Jubilee line, was opened back in 1839 and will soon become one of the many stations to be included on the new Elizabethan Line. The smallest escalator in the station, and the shortest on the whole network, has a vertical rise of just 4.1m.

Following the unspoken codes of the tube network and winding through the interlocking routes of the underground, a short journey on an escalator would certainly speed up many commuters journey. On average 1.35 billion passengers use the London underground each year and Stratford has been famed for its short escalator.

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According to The Royal Academy of Engineering, who published a report on the mathematics of the London Underground, escalators on the transport network travel at 0.75 metres per second. This would mean that the ridiculously small escalator will take around 5 seconds to take you from one end to the other.

Despite the tiny length of the journey there will still be those insistent on walking up the left hand side of the escalator, making others wait for the small journey on the left hand side.

Whilst Stratford is home to the shortest escalator, it has a close-behind competitor in Victoria Station, though this escalator does not lead down to a platform.

The escalator leading to the Victoria Place shopping mall from the station is only around 10 steps in total and the compact escalator can only transport around four people at a time.

Even though the size of the Victoria station escalator may seem a little ridiculous, it might be excused for the use of those with luggage or a pram, but there are signs on the escalator advising against both items.