Delays caused by services with faulty toilets

[Fermiboson]

Currently on a long distance service which has no toilets due to a fault. The guard announced that if people wanted to use a toilet they should get off at an intermediate station and wait for the next train.

If one had to use the toilet and as such was delayed by, say, an hour due to needing to get off, would that be eligible for a delay repay claim as the delay was due to a train fault?

 

[skyhigh]

Yes.

 

[Starmill]

If the train should have had toilets onboard but didn't, and that were the advice given by the onboard staff, then yes of course.

 

[Topological]

How would such advice be proven?

 

[Andy Pacer]

There seem to be a lot of similar threads of late. A growing problem?

 

[Fermiboson]

Northern appear to be the worst with it, but maintenance is undoubtedly a widespread issue.

This does spawn several interesting edge cases though - if you had an interchange of 6 minutes (legal interchange), but due to the preceding unit not having a toilet, you had to rush to the station toilet upon alighting and as a result missed your connection would that be eligible for delay repay? Does the condition of toilets on the connection train make any difference? What if you encounter a train with faulty toilets and make the decision not to board the service and take a later train? What if, say, a 5 car IET only had one toilet without fault and everyone was crowding on that toilet, resulting in you being unable to use the toilet on the train and having to alight at an intermediate stop, etc.?

How would such advice be proven?

I assume that the train would have some sort of event log that records the toilet faults.

 

[Skymonster]

Is there any legal obligation for a toilet to be provided on a train? I’m not familiar with railway rules in this situation, but I know from my past that if it had been an aircraft there would have been no absolute obligation for the operator to provide a toilet on board (and passengers would obviously not be able to get off part way en route and wait for the next plane either!).

 

[Bevan Price]

There seem to be a lot of similar threads of late. A growing problem?

In the past, trains with "toilet problems" would often make an extended stop at a station with toilets. Expecting passengers to wait an hour or more for the next train should be considered "unacceptable".

 

[Fermiboson]

I believe there was a thread on here at some point about the last Northern service of the night having no toilets and not stopping anywhere, resulting in several passengers having to relieve themselves in more inappropriate places.

 

[D6130]

I believe there was a thread on here at some point about the last Northern service of the night having no toilets and not stopping anywhere, resulting in several passengers having to relieve themselves in more inappropriate places.

The big problem with late evening trains is that there is very rarely anywhere with open toilets for them to stop!

 

[Horizon22]

Is there any legal obligation for a toilet to be provided on a train? I’m not familiar with railway rules in this situation, but I know from my past that if it had been an aircraft there would have been no absolute obligation for the operator to provide a toilet on board (and passengers would obviously not be able to get off part way en route and wait for the next plane either!).

Considering there are multiple train classes out there on some of the busiest routes that don't even have toilets, no.

 

[TUC]

Currently on a long distance service which has no toilets due to a fault. The guard announced that if people wanted to use a toilet they should get off at an intermediate station and wait for the next train.

If one had to use the toilet and as such was delayed by, say, an hour due to needing to get off, would that be eligible for a delay repay claim as the delay was due to a train fault?

It does seem to be harsh to effectively say 'no toilets are working on this train, and so your only alternative is to get off the train and be late for where you are goung'.

It is especially harsh on disabled passengers reliant upon assistance to get off and on the train.

Arranging for the train to wait for a suitable number of minutes at an appropriate station whilst passengers got a chance to use the toilets, whilst delaying the train, would be a preferable option

 

[CarltonA]

In the past, trains with "toilet problems" would often make an extended stop at a station with toilets. Expecting passengers to wait an hour or more for the next train should be considered "unacceptable".

Fairly recently on the Cotswold Line, GWR provided a 165 which had no working toilet. The guard made announcements that he would unlock the toilets for a few minutes at several stations along the way. He also warned those about to board there was no serviceable toilet and they could avail themselves at the station toilets which he was about to open. This was an impressive service approach though the timetable suffered a bit.

 

[Howardh]

For those of us of a certain age with postrate problems (enlarged/cancer etc), having no access to toilets is a real issue. It's one reason I never travel back from Manchester of an evening if there's a bustitution planned. In my situation I carry a small emergency sealable pot in my bag and hope that the guard will unlock the toilet so I can use it in private. Fortunately (so far) never had to do that, but just in case!

Many don't realise that for us it can be a very painful and embarassing situation finding yourself on a train without those facilities.