One of my Facebook friends kicked off a conversation around the difference between two Americans passing each other on a staircase, step to the right or to the left, or collide, and what two Brits might do in the same situation.

The consensus seemed to be that as Brits with an imperial mentality legacy we'd smash straight into each other; I doubt that entirely, it would be more an exercise in apologies and profuse excuse me's

Nevertheless that got me thinking about another aspect of staircase etiquette, which should be always followed using the Tube escalators: tourists and civilians, stand on the right, don't move, leave the left hand side free for people in a hurry. Simple. Keep right or get crushed in the stampede.