• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

Wash your hands for 1 euro at German stations

Status
Not open for further replies.

AnkleBoots

Member
Joined
8 Jan 2017
Messages
506
Now that health advice is to wash hands for 20 seconds before eating, and after using public transport, will the German stations unbarrier their toilets?

Charging 1 euro definitely reduces the number of people who will bother to wash their hands.
 
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

317666

Established Member
Joined
4 Sep 2009
Messages
1,771
Location
East Anglia
It's not just in Germany, you have to pay to use station toilets in a lot of European countries. Although at €1 for the privilege Germany could be the most expensive!
 

jon0844

Veteran Member
Joined
1 Feb 2009
Messages
28,013
Location
UK
Don't you get a voucher to spend in a shop (although I found it hard to spend them when I was last there)?

I'd hope they'd install hand sanitisers on platforms and maybe even on trains if the problem persists.
 

AnkleBoots

Member
Joined
8 Jan 2017
Messages
506
Don't you get a voucher to spend in a shop (although I found it hard to spend them when I was last there)?
Yes but with a minimum spend of €2.50 or €5 at a single outlet of their choice, it isn't really worth much.
 

jon0844

Veteran Member
Joined
1 Feb 2009
Messages
28,013
Location
UK
Yes but with a minimum spend of €2.50 or €5 at a single outlet of their choice, it isn't really worth much.

Ah, that's probably why I struggled.

Perhaps the simplest solution is to carry your own hand sanitiser, just like it's worth having a portable power bank charger so as to not worry about having power on a train etc.
 

jamesontheroad

Established Member
Joined
24 Jan 2009
Messages
2,032
Perhaps the simplest solution is to carry your own hand sanitiser, just like it's worth having a portable power bank charger so as to not worry about having power on a train etc.

True, but beware that alcohol-based hand sanitisers lose their effectivity relatively quickly. If you choose to use them, don't rely on their effectiveness to last much more than a couple of months after opening.

I don't mind paying a few euro to use the (generally clean) facilities in railway stations, but I am usually in a bit of a hurry when a German toilet ticket machine decides that my foreign debit card is not acceptable.
 

Bletchleyite

Veteran Member
Joined
20 Oct 2014
Messages
97,539
Location
"Marston Vale mafia"
German stations have ASB[1] issues that make UK ones pale into insignificance, so the charge is probably necessary to ensure the facilities are safe for everyone. I suppose they could put handwashing sinks out in the concourse area on a temporary basis, hired in, though alcohol gel is probably easier.

[1] Antisocial behaviour
 

AnkleBoots

Member
Joined
8 Jan 2017
Messages
506
I don't mind paying a few euro to use the (generally clean) facilities in railway stations
That's a lot!
I think it's safer for all if the majority have had the chance to wash their hands for free, rather than just a few people who were desperate enough to pay to use the toilet.
 

grid56126

Member
Joined
4 Sep 2011
Messages
295
If you have to open doors etc to come out of a toilet area where you have just washed your hands it's hardly worth bothering. The amount of filthy unwashed hands that have touched doors / door handles makes it a tad pointless . .
 

AnkleBoots

Member
Joined
8 Jan 2017
Messages
506
If you have to open doors etc to come out of a toilet area where you have just washed your hands it's hardly worth bothering. The amount of filthy unwashed hands that have touched doors / door handles makes it a tad pointless . .
In what way are they filthy? I don't think drops of urine carry much danger, and surely people wash their hands after number 2?

Also I'm not sure that urine or faeces carry coronavirus.
 

grid56126

Member
Joined
4 Sep 2011
Messages
295
Many people do not routinely wash there hands after toilet visits anywhere in the world I have been, including the workplace. It's not just coronavirus that means I use tissues to open doors and hand gel when back at my desk or seat on a train after using train loos.

I am not a germaphobe, and despite precautions I am not averse to catching viruses passed on at work, including a
Severe case of chicken pox.

I am a dedicated people watcher. I see their unclean habits and act in accordance.
 

Rick1984

Member
Joined
23 Aug 2012
Messages
1,030
Hand sanitizers by doors of trains does sound like a good idea. I'd also have them in the toilets due to the ineffectiveness of train washing facilities
 

jon0844

Veteran Member
Joined
1 Feb 2009
Messages
28,013
Location
UK
True, but beware that alcohol-based hand sanitisers lose their effectivity relatively quickly. If you choose to use them, don't rely on their effectiveness to last much more than a couple of months after opening.

That's a fair point, although if you're using them regularly enough for them to make a difference you'll probably be onto a new one before that happens.
 

Bletchleyite

Veteran Member
Joined
20 Oct 2014
Messages
97,539
Location
"Marston Vale mafia"
I am not a germaphobe

Unless you have an immune system issue you very much are, I'm afraid. Your immune system is very good, let it do its job. You do not, in normal circumstances, need to obsessively use alcohol gel, and doing so excessively may cause you harm e.g. to your skin.

I never use the stuff, and just wash my hands after using the loo pretty much, and very rarely get ill other than common colds which are mostly spread by airborne virus particles anyway.

It is of course up to you if you wish to choose to do this, but it is in normal circumstances totally unnecessary.
 

Bletchleyite

Veteran Member
Joined
20 Oct 2014
Messages
97,539
Location
"Marston Vale mafia"
Hand sanitizers by doors of trains does sound like a good idea.

No, it really doesn't. Total overkill and a waste of money. If you are a germ obsessive or are immunocompromised, buy your own (or have it prescribed, if applicable).

Coronavirus may mean the merits of this shift temporarily, but in normal circumstances just let your immune system work its magic - it is really very good, you know!

I'd also have them in the toilets due to the ineffectiveness of train washing facilities

I'd be with you on that one - train toilet sinks are so ineffective and so often non-functional that they'd be better replacing them with a gel dispenser as you tend to get in "polybogs".
 

sprunt

Member
Joined
22 Jul 2017
Messages
1,156
CHF2 in some Swiss stations which is a bit more.

20 Norwegian Krone in Oslo Central, which just outbids that.


Re hand sanitisers, I think I read when the HN51 panic was going on that they're primarily antibacterial, and thus pointless in the case of worry about a virus.
 

jon0844

Veteran Member
Joined
1 Feb 2009
Messages
28,013
Location
UK
Wow, just looked on Amazon and there are third party sellers asking for £120 for 12 50ml bottles! Not the only people trying to profit on there either.

Amazon itself seems to be sold out, allowing for others to profit.

I wonder what eBay is like right now!
 

STEVIEBOY1

Established Member
Joined
31 Jul 2010
Messages
4,003
No, it really doesn't. Total overkill and a waste of money. If you are a germ obsessive or are immunocompromised, buy your own (or have it prescribed, if applicable).

Coronavirus may mean the merits of this shift temporarily, but in normal circumstances just let your immune system work its magic - it is really very good, you know!



I'd be with you on that one - train toilet sinks are so ineffective and so often non-functional that they'd be better replacing them with a gel dispenser as you tend to get in "polybogs".

Sorry, what are "polybogs".? I tend to take a small bottle of hand gel/sanitzer when travelling.

And as said before, sadly many people don't wash their hands after a number 1 or 2. Or if they do, sometimes it is a very quick rinse under a half turned of tap, rather than a proper wash.
 

duesselmartin

Established Member
Joined
18 Jan 2014
Messages
1,902
Location
Duisburg, Germany
German stations have ASB[1] issues that make UK ones pale into insignificance, so the charge is probably necessary to ensure the facilities are safe for everyone. I suppose they could put handwashing sinks out in the concourse area on a temporary basis, hired in, though alcohol gel is probably easier.

[1] Antisocial behaviour
Yes, that is possibly because German stations have a lot less staff.
If er we're to put up desinfection sanitisers, would it help or just feed hysteria?
 

Bletchleyite

Veteran Member
Joined
20 Oct 2014
Messages
97,539
Location
"Marston Vale mafia"
Yes, that is possibly because German stations have a lot less staff.

Possibly, I also think it's because they are typically in worse areas of town than British ones. There are exceptions, though, such as Hull Paragon which has all sorts of trouble.

If er we're to put up desinfection sanitisers, would it help or just feed hysteria?

I think we'll see them about for a bit. In normal circumstances it's fairly pointless, but with the coronavirus about it's probably sensible.
 

dutchflyer

Established Member
Joined
17 Oct 2013
Messages
1,237
In another forum i just read about an other form of near hysteria in this matter: the handing over of multi use tickets (chipcards/seasons) to inspectors/conductors.
In most DE WCs you get a voucher worth 50 cts to use (with min. purchase of 2,50) in most of the usual chain shops you find there. Thats most often just beyond the threshold of ´kaffee und kuchen´ (coffee with cake/sweetbread). As in the army for soldiers standing long on patrol: cf goes quicker as beer (down the drain.......)
 

Starmill

Veteran Member
Fares Advisor
Joined
18 May 2012
Messages
23,224
Location
Bolton
I think it is of greater benefit to wash thoroughly than it is to was more frequently or to start on the sanitiser gel. The proper technique is useful to be in the habit with: rinse, apply soap, rub into lather on palms, then between fingers, back of fingers, under thumb and along the back of the hands. It's actually slightly more time consuming to do properly than one imagines.

I never skip washing after visiting the toilet, and almost always wash right before I begin eating. I think that's proportionate and wouldn't want to reduce it. Equally I feel no need to wash more frequently. Obviously if I have touched any animals or something then that's an exception. I try to ensure that I'm blowing my nose in the toilets before I'm going to wash my hands anyway.
 

Bletchleyite

Veteran Member
Joined
20 Oct 2014
Messages
97,539
Location
"Marston Vale mafia"
Will the coronavirus change your view on this?

Personally, only on a short term basis. Once the threat has passed, which it eventually will even as a pandemic as once you've had it you'll be immune to it at least for a time, there is no sense continuing with OCD style handwashing, only the usuals of after the toilet and before preparing or eating food (though I'll admit I don't usually bother before the latter if it's "on the go" type stuff). There are negatives for the skin and potentially for the immune system of excessive washing.
 

Starmill

Veteran Member
Fares Advisor
Joined
18 May 2012
Messages
23,224
Location
Bolton
Will the coronavirus change your view on this?
I think it will continue to be important to wash thoroughly. The question is I guess is over whether one should wash more often? I might be persuaded to change my mind on that I guess but I don't at the moment.

Incidentally I often find it quite an impediment to washing when water is too cold or too hot to do so, or worse, when there's no liquid soap provided.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top