Toilets on trains: Luxury or Necessity?

[Old Yard Dog]

I will never forget travelling by train from Linz to Munich airport and finding myself with a couple of hours to spare before my flight. I was delighted to discover at Munich Hbf that the Oktoberfest was only one stop away on the U-bahn and there was an empty luggage locker. Like a fool, I downed 2 litres of overpriced overrated cold fizzy lager in an hour as that was all they sold. Then I discovered there were no toilets on the S-bahn out to the airport. Suffice it to say it was the most excruciating 45 minutes of my life. I will stick to CAMRA beer festivals in future!

 

[takno]

I will never forget travelling by train from Linz to Munich airport and finding myself with a couple of hours to spare before my flight. I was delighted to discover at Munich Hbf that the Oktoberfest was only one stop away on the U-bahn and there was an empty luggage locker. Like a fool, I downed 2 litres of overpriced overrated cold fizzy lager in an hour as that was all they sold. Then I discovered there were no toilets on the S-bahn out to the airport. Suffice it to say it was the most excruciating 45 minutes of my life. I will stick to CAMRA beer festivals in future!

Because they give you a glass to **** in?

 

[TUC]

2 family members received correspondence from Northern with regards to toilets not working on the train they were traveling on (separate incidents), I had told them their chances of getting compensation were low, but what shocked me was what Northern wrote in their replies:

"Toilets on trains are a luxury rather than a necessity".

As they both received the same letter it seems this is the standard template Northern sends for this type of complaint. Surely this is a disgrace? How do Northern get away with sending such replies?

Whether it's a luxury or necessity, it's an incredibly stupid thing to say in a response to a customer. Do Northern not even understand the basics of how to reflect customer care in their responses?

 

[SpacePhoenix]

Is that a new thing in GWR? I aka because on the Gatwick to Reading service no such PIS announcement and I didn't know about the lack of a loo until after we'd departed Gatwick. We'd been sat at the airport for 8-10 minutes before we left too!

On modern stock that has a TMS could the TMS send a a GSM-R data message to some central server if a toilet registers a fault or the CET tank for a toilet is full? If it could, possibly PIS systems could pick up on that automatically and display on station screens if a train has no working toilets

 

[6Gman]

When did the practice end of having a toilet at each end of every coach?

Was there ever such a practice?

I think not.

 

[yorksrob]

Was there ever such a practice?

I think not.

Except mk 1's, 2's and 3's.

 

[TUC]

In my occasional experiences of toilets out of use, it frequently looks like toilet paper thrown all over the floor or soap everywhere. I don't know how you think that more staff on a train would solve that, but you should be prepared to pay a lot more for your travel.

Well if McDonalds manage to clean their toilets every hour without it significantly adding to prices, it can be done.

 

[najaB]

Well if McDonalds manage to clean their toilets every hour without it significantly adding to prices, it can be done.

I'm pretty sure they don't pay any additional staff though so it's not a direct comparison.

 

[AM9]

Well if McDonalds manage to clean their toilets every hour without it significantly adding to prices, it can be done.

So any mess/damage that the dregs of the great british society inflict on facilities provided for the comfort of the majority are a failing of the TOC* if they fail to employ somebody to clean up/repair them as soon as the miscreant vacates the scene then?

* TOC doesn't stand for Toilet Operating Company

 

[Andrew1395]

For me the issue is not simply the length of journey in time, it is the number of people travelling on the individual train that is also pertinent. For e ample a Met Line Amersham to Moorgate probably has a 1,000 people on the service. Probability means there is more likely to be someone requiring to use the toilet than a smaller random group of people travelling for the same time. So high capacity urban services are more likely to require toilets on board than some lightly used services services or even very high speed inter city type services for example Milton Keynes to New Street. It is therefore disappointing that Cross London Elizabeth line trains will be devoid of a toilet.

 

[northwichcat]

I will never forget travelling by train from Linz to Munich airport and finding myself with a couple of hours to spare before my flight. I was delighted to discover at Munich Hbf that the Oktoberfest was only one stop away on the U-bahn and there was an empty luggage locker. Like a fool, I downed 2 litres of overpriced overrated cold fizzy lager in an hour as that was all they sold. Then I discovered there were no toilets on the S-bahn out to the airport. Suffice it to say it was the most excruciating 45 minutes of my life. I will stick to CAMRA beer festivals in future!

But isn't there a train between the city centre and the Airport every 6 minutes - if you include both the clockwise and anti-clockwise ones? Much more frequent than trains from villages like Slaithwaite in the UK.

 

[ys123]

I'm pretty sure they don't pay any additional staff though so it's not a direct comparison.

Well, the TOC running the station could pay one of the staff to clean the toilet every hour or two, similar to McDonalds.

 

[trainophile]

I'm pretty sure they don't pay any additional staff though so it's not a direct comparison.

I hope they wash their hands before going back to flipping burgers!

For me the issue is not simply the length of journey in time, it is the number of people travelling on the individual train that is also pertinent. For e ample a Met Line Amersham to Moorgate probably has a 1,000 people on the service. Probability means there is more likely to be someone requiring to use the toilet than a smaller random group of people travelling for the same time. So high capacity urban services are more likely to require toilets on board than some lightly used services services or even very high speed inter city type services for example Milton Keynes to New Street. It is therefore disappointing that Cross London Elizabeth line trains will be devoid of a toilet.

Not much consolation if you happen to be the one person out of the couple of dozen on your train who is desperate for a toilet!

 

[TUC]

So any mess/damage that the dregs of the great british society inflict on facilities provided for the comfort of the majority are a failing of the TOC* if they fail to employ somebody to clean up/repair them as soon as the miscreant vacates the scene then?

* TOC doesn't stand for Toilet Operating Company

Those who make a mess in McDonalds toilets are also part of the public, but it doesn't stop McDonalds from regarding it as part of looking after their customers that staff keep toilets clean and tidy for the majority.

 

[najaB]

Well, the TOC running the station could pay one of the staff to clean the toilet every hour or two, similar to McDonalds.

I thought this was about toilets on trains?

 

[infobleep]

On modern stock that has a TMS could the TMS send a a GSM-R data message to some central server if a toilet registers a fault or the CET tank for a toilet is full? If it could, possibly PIS systems could pick up on that automatically and display on station screens if a train has no working toilets

Well it doesn't happen on the North Downs Line.

 

[ys123]

I thought this was about toilets on trains?

OK, so all conductors take a course in plumbing?

 

[DynamicSpirit]

It's the age-old situation though: more staff = higher costs = ???

I'm going to hazard a guess that the cost of operating a train is so high in the first place that adding to it the cost of a new staff member responsible for cleaning/customer service/etc. is going to make a fairly small % difference.

 

[ys123]

I'm going to hazard a guess that the cost of operating a train is so high in the first place that adding to it the cost of a new staff member responsible for cleaning/customer service/etc. is going to make a fairly small % difference.

What you are suggesting is a vicious circle:

Complaints = more staff members = higher ticket prices = complaints