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Station toilets

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142094

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Free toilets always attract the wrong 'sort' of people, and are invariably a mess or completely wrecked (although there are some good examples around, but of course will be subsidised by the local council).
 
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WelshBluebird

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Free toilets always attract the wrong 'sort' of people, and are invariably a mess or completely wrecked (although there are some good examples around, but of course will be subsidised by the local council).

Depends if they are checked often or not really, or if there is a staff presence.
The toilets at Bath Spa station are nearly always in a good state and there is usually a member of staff on either platform, so I would guess people are put off from taking the mick with them.
 

142094

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Even with staff I've seen some toilets at railway stations that are disgusting. I've also seen passengers trying to use other parts of the station as toilets, including lifts...
 

exile

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At one time virtually every station had toilets (and staff, of course). From what I remember they weren't usually temples of cleanliness though! Generally the standard of WCs on stations is reasonable these days.
 

WelshBluebird

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Even with staff I've seen some toilets at railway stations that are disgusting. I've also seen passengers trying to use other parts of the station as toilets, including lifts...

At least from what I have seen the worst stations are either those that are unmanned / have only a couple of staff there or those that are quite big and so span quite a few platforms (meaning it is harder to keep track of people). Stations in the middle (like Bath Spa - so are still quite small but have quite a few members of staff about) seem to be usually decent (again at least in my experience).

It also depends on the location, and even the type of people that use that platform.
The valley lines platform at Cardiff Central has toilets that aren't very nice at all. Yet the toilets on the other platforms aren't anywhere near as bad. I put that down to the large number of idiots and chavs we tend to have in the valleys.
 

Flamingo

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This thread is starting to go a little off-topic, I think...
 

Xenophon PCDGS

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Free toilets always attract the wrong 'sort' of people, and are invariably a mess or completely wrecked

This is one reason why I think 30p to pay at Manchester Piccadilly railway station is only a small price to pay for a modern, clean and hygienic establishment situated in a good situation on the railway station.

Let us be fair, there is very little that 30p buys these days and when you are desperate to relieve yourself, it becomes even less of a concern.
 

MidnightFlyer

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At Piccadilly I just use the toilets on a stationary 390 waiting its next turn or boarding!
 
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The toilets at Preston are free and they are excellent!
Also York's toilets are free, and also nice toilets.
Train toilets are free, and that's the magic word. Nothing like sitting down at 100mph! Not always the best toilets though! :lol:
 

Temple Meads

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This is one reason why I think 30p to pay at Manchester Piccadilly railway station is only a small price to pay for a modern, clean and hygienic establishment situated in a good situation on the railway station.

Let us be fair, there is very little that 30p buys these days and when you are desperate to relieve yourself, it becomes even less of a concern.

I'm going to have to disagree with you here, relieving oneself is a basic human need, and to have to pay for it seems extortionate, especially at 30p, I thought they were usually 20p, or even less.

I'd rather a little less cleanliness, and my 30p happily in my pocket to be honest :)
 

SS4

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There was the infamous **** entrance to BHM which always reeked. I can't remember the name but it was the exit out to the Electric Ballroom
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
This is one reason why I think 30p to pay at Manchester Piccadilly railway station is only a small price to pay for a modern, clean and hygienic establishment situated in a good situation on the railway station.

Let us be fair, there is very little that 30p buys these days and when you are desperate to relieve yourself, it becomes even less of a concern.

I'd agree with that, especially since change machines are nearby (at least at BHM and EUS). Making toilets free would be a nice idea but it's been shown time and time again that they just get abused and are left in such a state that nobody would want to use them.
It's kind of disgusting that people could treat public facilities like that but they do and until they don't I'd rather pay to stand on a dry floor
 

MidnightFlyer

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I seem to recall that Richmond (Mdx)'s toilets are 30p a time, and are in awful condition, graffiti everywhere and so dark you can only see three yards in front of you at any given point!

Cliveblackpool - Maybe because the toilets at Preston are only 3 months old ;)
 

Lampshade

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The toilets at Preston are brand new, that's why they're good. Preston bus station on the other hand... *shudder* :shock:
 

Xenophon PCDGS

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I'm going to have to disagree with you here, relieving oneself is a basic human need, and to have to pay for it seems extortionate, especially at 30p, I thought they were usually 20p, or even less....I'd rather a little less cleanliness, and my 30p happily in my pocket to be honest :)

Is there any legal obligation for toilets to be provided on railway stations at no charge to either rail travellers or casual users of the station facility, that goes back to the early days of the railways in Britain ?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
At Piccadilly I just use the toilets on a stationary 390 waiting its next turn or boarding!


This brings me to mind of the first verse of a folk "ditty" written by my old school chum, raconteur, poet and general all round performer....Mike Harding.

Gentlemen will please refrain
From urinating whilst the train
Is standing at the platform here at Crewe
Please restrain your natural function
Till we get to Middleton Junction
Where there's really bugger all else to do.
 

142094

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I can remember the days when it was only 10p to spend a penny, and I'd be quite happy to pay that for using well maintained and clean facilities. Seems to have gone up every 5 years or so, most Network Rail operated stations charge 30p.

Travelling over in France and Germany at the start of the year, some service stations have toilets which you have to pay 20 cents, but you get a token to spend the 20 cents back in the service station for food or a drink, which is a bit better.
 

STEVIEBOY1

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Some of the stations in Europe charge you 1 euro which quite alot, although in Cologne, when I was there a few years ago, you had a choice of 50 cents to stand or 1 euro if you required a cubicle.

Some WCs in the UK that charge 30p are in fact still not very nice, dirty / smelly as mentioned above, where as some free loos are very clean indeed. I guess it all depends on the staff employed there and their management.

I do also recell when it did cost one old penny (1 d) to spend a penny, that rate lasted for about 100 years, then when we went decimal in the early 1970s it changed to one new penny, (which was infact 100 per cent increase as a new penny equalls one old penny), then the charges slowly increased to the rates they are now.
 

PaxVobiscum

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I do also recell when it did cost one old penny (1 d) to spend a penny, that rate lasted for about 100 years, then when we went decimal in the early 1970s it changed to one new penny, (which was infact 100 per cent increase as a new penny equalls one old penny), then the charges slowly increased to the rates they are now.

[PEDANT]Arithmetic, arithmetic. Assuming the £1 itself stayed the same value over decimalisation (debatable as so many price increases were slipped through on "D day") when the rate changed from 1d (1/240th of £1) to 1p (1/100th of £1), it was an increase of 140% surely? [/PEDANT]

I remember well the old rhyme lovingly scrawled in many a toilet cubicle
"Here sit I
broken hearted,
paid a penny
and only f*rted"


Or the instructions on the impressive Victorian lock mechanism which stated
DROP A PENNY IN SLOT AND SLIDE KNOB

Like this one

Though the ones I remember (Glasgow Central or St Enoch?) were all brass.
 
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WestCoast

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Some of the stations in Europe charge you 1 euro which quite alot, although in Cologne, when I was there a few years ago, you had a choice of 50 cents to stand or 1 euro if you required a cubicle..

A lot of the toilet facilities on the continent are ran privately as businesses. I know there's a chain called 'McClean' that operates in Germany, Switzerland and France, probably elsewhere as well. They offer showers as well as toilets. Expensive by UK standards at up to 1 euro per visit in some locations, but they are very plush with a full time attendant(s), self-cleaning toilet seats and even complimentary mints to keep your breath fresh! :lol:
 

TheJRB

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This is one reason why I think 30p to pay at Manchester Piccadilly railway station is only a small price to pay for a modern, clean and hygienic establishment situated in a good situation on the railway station.

Let us be fair, there is very little that 30p buys these days and when you are desperate to relieve yourself, it becomes even less of a concern.
I very much agree with this. I always feel that you can rely on Network Rail managed large stations to have pleasant paid for toilets.


I seem to recall that Richmond (Mdx)'s toilets are 30p a time, and are in awful condition, graffiti everywhere and so dark you can only see three yards in front of you at any given point!
I was very disappointed with Richmond although thankfully the barrier was down when I visited.

In my experience, on train toilets (particularly longer distance trains) tend to be better than a lot of free station toilets. I'm not a fan of the narrow cubicles on the Electrostars though.
 

Mojo

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London Underground have a number of stations with free toilets, a number of which I have used but are in a pretty sorry state. With LUL's graffiti policy meaning graffiti doesn't remain long that isn't too much of a problem, but they all appear a bit dated and worn out. Many have restrictive opening hours.

There is a toilets map here: www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/toilets-map.pdf (warning - pdf)
 

yorksrob

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I very much agree with this. I always feel that you can rely on Network Rail managed large stations to have pleasant paid for toilets.

At times maybe. The paid for gents at Leeds only has three cubicles, which is frankly too few to cope. I try and avoid them as there's nothing worse than paying your 30p then having to hang around by the urinals for ages because the cubicles are all occupied by the sort of people who seem to spend all day on there. Generally I find the free ones on platforms 13 - 15 are just as clean and less likely to be occupied.
 

Bungle73

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The toilets at St Pancras are free, and they're quite nice too, with attendants regularly cleaning up.

Then toilets for the FC Lougne at KGX next door are VERY nice (with even moisteriser for you hands), but then I guess they would be. The thing is though there's nothing (and no one) to stop non-FC passengers using them.
 

142094

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Leeds is a funny station seeing as you can get to the free toilets once past the barrier. I wonder how many people who are going to catch a train go and pay 30p when they could save that money.
 

yorksrob

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Leeds is a funny station seeing as you can get to the free toilets once past the barrier. I wonder how many people who are going to catch a train go and pay 30p when they could save that money.

I'm sure that's a nice little earner <D
 

Crossover

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At Piccadilly I just use the toilets on a stationary 390 waiting its next turn or boarding!

Just have to make sure that you get the right service, else you may find they start moving :P

Also York's toilets are free, and also nice toilets.

If you mean the ones by York Tap, I wouldn't say they are that great

Travelling over in France and Germany at the start of the year, some service stations have toilets which you have to pay 20 cents, but you get a token to spend the 20 cents back in the service station for food or a drink, which is a bit better.

I think it was Stuttgart a couple of years ago where it was a Euro (so a few times the price of the UK) - thought at the time it made the UK look good value!

London Underground have a number of stations with free toilets, a number of which I have used but are in a pretty sorry state. With LUL's graffiti policy meaning graffiti doesn't remain long that isn't too much of a problem, but they all appear a bit dated and worn out. Many have restrictive opening hours.

There is a toilets map here: www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/toilets-map.pdf (warning - pdf)

I never actually realised any underground stations had them at all - thought it was reserved for NR stations mainly! Could be useful to know

Leeds is a funny station seeing as you can get to the free toilets once past the barrier. I wonder how many people who are going to catch a train go and pay 30p when they could save that money.

I suspect a lot don't know about the free ones and use the ones pre-barrier. Of course, there are two lots of them as well (I think one of them may back onto the paid ones!)
 

142094

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I suspect a lot don't know about the free ones and use the ones pre-barrier. Of course, there are two lots of them as well (I think one of them may back onto the paid ones!)

It does as well, which is quite ironic.
 
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