Embarrassing problem regarding the toilets

[edwin_m]

Our trains on VT do warn you audibly if you haven't locked the door. So instead of the goldfish, hopes and dreams stuff, you'll be told you haven't locked the door.

Used to be a fairly regular occurrence to walk in on someone which is not good when they're doing something they shouldn't be. (Saying no more!)

I was just about to suggest that this would be one of the rare times when an automated announcement is actually the best answer. So glad to read that at least one TOC thinks likewise!

 

[TheEdge]

The new style of toilets in AGA 156 (and I assume by extension everything with that loo module) have a nice lock. Door close and open is by nice big buttons, same as external door buttons and the lock is a large sliding bar that sits either in a shaded "open" or "locked" area. Also see much less accidental passcoms in those than the older style.

 

[BurtonM]

The non-disabled toilets on Pendos often appear to lock, but don't quite...

 

[Antman]

I've used trains extensively the past few months, for pleasure and this king of thing has happened to me at least three times......


I need the toilet on a train and it's vacant says the lit-up sign on the door.

I press the button to enter, the door opens, and there's either a woman sat there on the toilet or a bloke (with everything on view) standing up going to the toilet.

What's either happened is the passenger has neglected to lock the door, or (more likely) they thought they had locked it but were mistaken.

This causes embarrassment for both me and them.

Last week, an angry bloke shouted "Excuse me!!!" as I entered the door and he was there going to the toilet. Well, it's not my fault; I didn't know the toilet was occupied when I opened the door, the sign said vacant.

This happens too many times to me. Any similar experiences, and how would I best handle this problem, particularly irate passengers having a go at me when I know I'm not in the wrong?

Some sort of old style lock that you physically lock yourself would surely be preferable?

I saw a guard on Southeastern recently asked to stand 'on guard' outside whilst somebody used the loo as the lock apparently didn't work

 

[Lincoln]

why cant they design the lock so that if the door is closed by pushing the inside close button it cannot be opened from the outside until it has been opened from the inside

The problem with this is if someone presses the "Close" button from the inside after leaving the toilet it will then auto-lock, preventing anyone else from using it.

The signs are pretty clearly labelled as "Close" and "Lock" so shouldn't be too hard to work out that if you actually want some guaranteed privacy to press the "Lock" button...

That said, I prefer manual style locks as they are much more reassuring, But then is there any guarantee that people who are quite happy to go about their business in un-locked toilets would use these? Hehe.

 

[route:oxford]

For fully automatic doors, the easy way to ensure compliance would be to have them glazed with the material that goes from clear to opaque when the door is locked. I've seen them in hotels and airports.

Of course, the alternative way to encourage change is to take a photo of their indecency and tweet it with a complaint to the TOC.

 

[sarahj]

Men seem to be the ones that lock it less. When they enter they turn round to face the lav to pee, ignoring the lock buttons. Most women who forget, normally lock the door when they are sat down, facing the button that says 'lock'.

Watching some folks use the lav, I often wonder how they got dressed that morning. Even a lit button that says 'open' if often too much for some.

Only had one person kick off, when the door opened on his girlfriend. Pointed out she had not locked the door. (I was standing nearby). His next choice words were aimed at her.

 

[sheff1]

Fairly recently, I opened a toilet door to find a woman sitting there. I looked at her, she looked at me and said "I'm on the toilet". "So I see" I replied "Why didn't you lock the door?" She said nothing and looked rather baffled.

I stepped back, pressed the closed button outside and went into the next carriage to use the facilities there. After finishing, I came back into the first carriage just in time to see someone else enter the toilet only to find the same woman still there - she still hadn't locked the door

I wondered if there was actually a door fault but, when she eventually exited, the second person went in and, within seconds, the door locked light came on.

With some people there is just no hope.

 

[Servotech Rail]

We are working on a few toilet door control units for both standard and disabled access doors for several class of vehicles, the problem is quite common, with a bit of luck we will get the TOC's out of the sh*t

 

[Crossover]

I had it happen twice in one day on two separate services (once on East Coast Mk 4's and again on a Pendolino, both First Class) a few years ago! Aside from those facilities that lack a close button outside so there is very little one can do, the other annoyance are those which insist on fully opening (slowly usually) before they will allow themselves to close again!

Thankfully I don't think I have ever been the dozy one in the toilet who hasn't locked it!

 

[johnnychips]

I know someone with a phobia, he is petrified of getting locked in, after it happening at Newington and ending up blocking the local for an hour, he always takes someone with him to the toilet and has real problems if travelling alone.

'Blocking the local'. I'll remember to use that expression next time I have a curry

 

[Flamingo]

If an argument erupted, and I called the conductor / guard, what would they do?

It depends - probably depends on who started the arguement. Personally, I'd try to defuse it, but might raise my voice if either party was being a pillock. Although, if there was an arguement in this situation, at least one of them being a pillock is a given, I suppose.

 

[gsnedders]

HIt's not that complicated surely?? You press one button to close the door, and then another to lock it. There are even instructions!!

No wonder the referendum was such a mess if people can't even grasp this basic concept!

Except half the time nothing happens when I first press the close button… Is it slow? Did it not recognize my pushing it? If the same happens with the lock button, if I press it again will I unlock it? Or can I stab at it repeatedly until I somehow hope it's locked? The instructions often omit anything about how to know whether the door is locked (and I know that isn't true of all ToCs, but it's definitely true for some), for one!

 

[DEE-DE]

When I did Glasgow-Ayr the train had a rotating button with an indicator similar to what you would have on those old mechanical locks. That was quite reassuring as it was quite obvious from the position of the button that it had been locked.

 

[BurtonM]

TPE 185s have that too.

 

[Crossover]

When I did Glasgow-Ayr the train had a rotating button with an indicator similar to what you would have on those old mechanical locks. That was quite reassuring as it was quite obvious from the position of the button that it had been locked.

TPE 185s have that too.

Quite a few of the newer units have something similar - people don't seem to be able to find it though, still!

 

[richw]

The new disabled toilet on GWR 150/2 speaks to tell you the door isn't locked. I believe this has so far only been fitted to 2 units.

 

[Cowley]

I think if they can't be bothered to lock the door you should shake up a can of coke, open it and chuck it in there with them. They won't cause anyone the same embarrassment next time.
Actually maybe not.

 

[robbeech]

CS services have a close and lock combined button on their disabled toilets. No close button on the outside either. I wonder how many times someone has tried to help by hitting the only close button which just happens to auto lock too. I'm assuming it's a fairly simple fix for a member of train crew to open it again.

 

[FQTV]

Airlines have much less problem with this. Default lighting in the toilet is 'gloom' with a bright 'Lock Door' (or a variation thereof) illuminated in line of sight.

Only locking the door brings the main lights up.

On trains with DDA toilets, whilst I appreciate that there's the (edge case?) possibility of the close button being pressed prior to exit, locking the toilet out, surely a PIR could release the lock after a minute or two, preceded by an audible warning.

In the 99.9999999999999% of other situations, I cannot conceive of any legal or moral reason why a user entering the facility and closing the door, by whatever means, should not want the door to be locked forthwith. The requirement to press another button is simply asking for trouble.

And what should those for whom English is not a spoken tongue be supposed to do. Google in Urdu for specific instructions?

Civilisation has overcome greater challenges than this, I'm reasonably sure.

 

[sarahj]

Airlines have much less problem with this. Default lighting in the toilet is 'gloom' with a bright 'Lock Door' (or a variation thereof) illuminated in line of sight.

Only locking the door brings the main lights up.

On trains with DDA toilets, whilst I appreciate that there's the (edge case?) possibility of the close button being pressed prior to exit, locking the toilet out, surely a PIR could release the lock after a minute or two, preceded by an audible warning.

In the 99.9999999999999% of other situations, I cannot conceive of any legal or moral reason why a user entering the facility and closing the door, by whatever means, should not want the door to be locked forthwith. The requirement to press another button is simply asking for trouble.

And what should those for whom English is not a spoken tongue be supposed to do. Google in Urdu for specific instructions?

Civilisation has overcome greater challenges than this, I'm reasonably sure.

Some folks don't want the door locked automatically. Parents with children, folks with issues, me when I'm trying to fix the thing. Every other toilet I've ever been in has been, you close the door, then lock it.

 

[mark-h]

Could a PIR (motion sensor!) be fitted to the inside of the cubical- if the door is closed and it detects somebody inside it would lock the door, if not the door would remain unlocked.

 

[VauxhallandI]

Quite how people can't operate a simple system is beyond me.

Then there are the Pollocks who press the alarm button instead of the flush grrrr

 

[47271]

I have a strong bladder and avoid train WCs as much as possible, so I've never burst in on anyone in the way described. Two or three visits a year out of hundreds of journeys do me fine.

However, I was once passing down the corridor to find one of the large curved sliding doors shudder open to reveal an elderly woman, very similar to Liz Smith's grandma character in The Royle Family, with her pants around her knees and, totally unabashed, say to me 'Gaw, these get me every time'. I moved on.

 

[edwin_m]

Airlines have much less problem with this. Default lighting in the toilet is 'gloom' with a bright 'Lock Door' (or a variation thereof) illuminated in line of sight.

Only locking the door brings the main lights up.

On trains with DDA toilets, whilst I appreciate that there's the (edge case?) possibility of the close button being pressed prior to exit, locking the toilet out, surely a PIR could release the lock after a minute or two, preceded by an audible warning.

In the 99.9999999999999% of other situations, I cannot conceive of any legal or moral reason why a user entering the facility and closing the door, by whatever means, should not want the door to be locked forthwith. The requirement to press another button is simply asking for trouble.

And what should those for whom English is not a spoken tongue be supposed to do. Google in Urdu for specific instructions?

Civilisation has overcome greater challenges than this, I'm reasonably sure.

I think a PIR would be a bad idea. Think of the scope for things to go wrong if it was wrongly adjusted - as it probably would be a lot of the time judging by the PIR door sensors on Turbostars. I also don't think an auto-lock would work, as people would find out that it was "fun" to press the button, jump through the doorway as it slowly closed, and deny the facility to anyone else until someone could come down to reset it.

Best idea as far as I'm concerned is a prominent lock button, an indicator to say clearly it is locked, supplemented by dim lighting as suggested and/or an auto announcement. And I think we have to assume some basic knowledge of English for people visiting this country - otherwise they wouldn't get far enough to be considering using a train toilet. A picture of a key or a padlock next to the relevant button would help as well.

Some of the original accessible toilets just flashed the lock button when unlocked and lit it steadily when locked. But if you weren't sure if it had locked, or didn't understand the meaning of the indications (no explanation provided) and you pressed the lock button a second time, it would open the door...

 

[Pakenhamtrain]

We have this on the VLocities:

The light on the lock flashes if I recall until it's locked.
You can't miss it. If you sit down you face the door. It's a big sticker on said door.

 

[russdx]

I think this problem can be solved with a simple knock on the door

 

[Hughby]

Personally I think that these 'electronic' toilet locks are a case of 'Automation Gone Mad' (and I worked in Industrial Automation).

Any toilet door lock in a public place that needs written instructions and is not instantly recognisable as open or locked is a design failure as far as I'm concerned.

My favourite (fail) was the Pendelino 'Flush button behind raised toilet seat'. As an engineer you can understand the possible dangers of a vacuum flushed toilet but hiding the flush button as a solution - what were they thinking?

 

[jon0844]

You can't have a real lock on the sliding automatic doors, but a fake lock is a good workaround that should be easy to understand.

You then have something understandable in any language. Close, lock and open.

 

[DaleCooper]

Could a PIR (motion sensor!) be fitted to the inside of the cubical- if the door is closed and it detects somebody inside it would lock the door, if not the door would remain unlocked.

How would you get out? Apart from that it's another case of technological overkill.