Euston station toilets in a disgusting state

[156421]

Also the cubicle walls are too low

 

[Uk125]

Euston toilets is known for cottaging.

I got approached by a stranger while waiting for the platform number to come up, inviting me to the toilet with him.

Told him to get lost. Disgusting.

 

[northwichcat]

This is the case for charging.

I disagree. Some of Avanti's walk on tickets are the most expensive journeys by rail in the UK. And given only the Underground and Overground trains out of Euston don't have toilets, charging for station ones will increase demand for train toilets, which could lead to them developing faults or becoming full sooner.

Maybe one option could be to place dumb ticket barriers between the concourse and toilets - just ones that check you have a ticket valid for the date of travel. Not ones that decide you can't go through as it's too early, too late etc.

 

[dk1]

Besides having to try sit down I'm not sure how much more of an experience you need.

Me neither. I had no complaints though.

 

[43066]

Euston toilets is known for cottaging.

I got approached by a stranger while waiting for the platform number to come up, inviting me to the toilet with him.

Told him to get lost. Disgusting.

Maybe that’s why they announce the platforms so late!

 

[Wolfie]

Euston toilets is known for cottaging.

I got approached by a stranger while waiting for the platform number to come up, inviting me to the toilet with him.

Told him to get lost. Disgusting.

There is nothing new under the sun. Thirty odd years ago a friend of mine, who had the most gorgeous girlfriend, got an unsolicited offer of £15 payment for a handjob in the Gents at Charing Cross.

Maybe that’s why they announce the platforms so late!

What? The announcer is in the Gents???? lol

 

[GardenRail]

There is nothing new under the sun. Thirty odd years ago a friend of mine, who had the most gorgeous girlfriend, got an unsolicited offer of £15 payment for a handjob in the Gents at Charing Cross.

Bargain

 

[Bletchleyite]

This is the case for charging.

TBH I'd like to see charges return, or at least ticket gates so they are free to ticket holders but chargeable to others, ideally by card* as having change was more annoying than having to pay. Charging is a very powerful tool to reduce misuse.

This would be an advantage of moving Euston to a single gateline under the stupid advert board - the toilets would be inside.

* A single machine could be provided to print toilet access e-tickets and give change for cash zealots.

Euston toilets is known for cottaging.

I got approached by a stranger while waiting for the platform number to come up, inviting me to the toilet with him.

Told him to get lost. Disgusting.

Now I'm gay (well, a bit bi) so I should understand the community a bit, but this is part of it I don't understand. Before things like Grindr perhaps, but why do people do it now? For old times' sake? Because they enjoy it being naughty? I just don't get it.

 

[OscarH]

TBH I'd like to see charges return, or at least ticket gates so they are free to ticket holders but chargeable to others, ideally by card* as having change was more annoying than having to pay. Charging is a very powerful tool to reduce misuse.

There is more to it than just charging though. King's Cross and Victoria are always spotless in my experience, and St Pancras and London Bridge are pretty clean (the main problem with the latter being it's too small). So there must be a reason Euston is so much worse

 

[Blindtraveler]

I'm afraid I have absolutely no sympathy whatsoever with the free toilet apologists here, I am so passionate about this that I believe even motorway services should charge or at least have some kind of system that ensures they are always in good condition which back in my childhood was never a problem but seems increasingly not to be the case, presumably as they've cut staffing down to the bone whilst the selection of franchised branded outlets continue to get ever more expensive


As others have said a reasonable charge paid in a reasonable way is a very powerful tool, it works quite well on the continent with lots of ways to avoid the charge in other words if you have a relevant train or coach ticket for example but simply having free for all does not work and to those who claim that some stations in central London or whatever are better than others are I suspect going off their own fortunate experiences, last time I used Victoria it was in a disgusting state and there was no excuse for it as it was not a busy peak period where the cleaning staff assuming you can find one can't keep up

 

[Horizon22]

Victoria has exquisite loos

Which are of course very recently refurbished.

The charging element I can see go both ways. It adds a barrier to use what are very basic, life necessities which is somewhat unfair but also allows no barrier to those who have no care for the faculties they use. In Europe, charging is very common and almost everyone has a bank card on them now. The old turnstiles at NR stations relied on coins which was increasingly a barrier in itself to well-meaning users.

 

[Tezza1978]

The ones at Liverpool Street leave a lot to be desired especially the hand washing facility, sink filthy & dryers seem to not work, but they have variety of wildlife chirping over the PA to cheers us all up

That ridiculous bird chirping recording drives me absolutely mad at Liverpool Street loos.

The toilets are - marginally - better than Euston in terms of cleanliness but that isnt saying much. And the hand dryers and soap dispensers are ALWAYS broken

 

[Wolfie]

I'm afraid I have absolutely no sympathy whatsoever with the free toilet apologists here, I am so passionate about this that I believe even motorway services should charge or at least have some kind of system that ensures they are always in good condition which back in my childhood was never a problem but seems increasingly not to be the case, presumably as they've cut staffing down to the bone whilst the selection of franchised branded outlets continue to get ever more expensive


As others have said a reasonable charge paid in a reasonable way is a very powerful tool, it works quite well on the continent with lots of ways to avoid the charge in other words if you have a relevant train or coach ticket for example but simply having free for all does not work and to those who claim that some stations in central London or whatever are better than others are I suspect going off their own fortunate experiences, last time I used Victoria it was in a disgusting state and there was no excuse for it as it was not a busy peak period where the cleaning staff assuming you can find one can't keep up

How many trains on the continent have no toilets?

 

[RUK]

The ones at Liverpool Street leave a lot to be desired especially the hand washing facility, sink filthy & dryers seem to not work, but they have variety of wildlife chirping over the PA to cheers us all up

You have to put one hand back a lot further than you think, almost touching the wall, and wave it about, while using the air stream to dry the other hand.

 

[Bletchleyite]

How many trains on the continent have no toilets?

Same as here. Long distance ones do, urban metro type ones don't.

 

[Adam Williams]

I am so passionate about this that I believe even motorway services should charge

How about we don't discourage road users from stopping and taking a break during long road trips, which seems like a recipe for more dangerous road use. The motorway services make more than enough money by hiking the prices of all the food, drink and shop items by about 40% to be able to keep the facilities clean. Seriously, try and buy a coffee for a price starting with a £2..

I'm afraid I have absolutely no sympathy whatsoever with the free toilet apologists here

it works quite well on the continent

The folks I know who suffer from Crohn's or IBS would really take issue with your suggestion that "it works quite well on the continent".

I also seem to recall that in some cities it's the case that men have free, public facilities in the form of the plaskrul, but very little publicly made available for women which seems discriminatory to me.

There are some things that are done well on the continent; this is not one of them.

 

[Bletchleyite]

One could always permit free entry with a RADAR key. The important thing is that the vandals and others who make toilets less pleasant/safe are deterred.

 

[185]

Euston toilets is known for cottaging.

My word, I thought the advent of the internet had ended that since the 90s... well.. and George Michael (rip).

 

[HBP]

There is nothing new under the sun. Thirty odd years ago a friend of mine, who had the most gorgeous girlfriend, got an unsolicited offer of £15 payment for a handjob in the Gents at Charing Cross.

£15.00 Thirty years ago was not to be sniffed at.

 

[northwichcat]

I'm afraid I have absolutely no sympathy whatsoever with the free toilet apologists here, I am so passionate about this that I believe even motorway services should charge or at least have some kind of system that ensures they are always in good condition which back in my childhood was never a problem but seems increasingly not to be the case, presumably as they've cut staffing down to the bone whilst the selection of franchised branded outlets continue to get ever more expensive

OK so you think there should be a charge for toilets, even where the majority of the users have already paying customers of a product or service. Would you be happy for a chain like Caffe Nero to charge £2.50 for a coffee, then to charge you 50p to sit at a table and 30p to use the toilet? If not, why shouldn't train fare revenue cover toilets at stations for rail users?

Last year when I was at a station in Spain I felt unwell and like I was about to vomit. I rushed to the toilet and did vomit. Fortunately, as I could rush straight into a cubicle all the vomit went in the toilet and was flushed away. Had I needed to try and get change from somewhere before entering the toilet I wouldn't have got there in time and there would have been a mess on the concourse.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Restricting free use to ticket holders also works.

Yes, you do have to pay for toilets in cafes in Germany. It's just how it is. It does tend to mean a dedicated cleaner there at all times, preventing abuse.

I pretty much always find paid toilets in better condition than free ones.

 

[Recessio]

Having lived within walking distance of Euston for many years, the area around the station is less than salubrious. There's also very little else in the way of free public toilets available nearby, so these toilets see a lot of use beyond just passengers. If there were more toilets available nearby, I wonder if they wouldn't be in such a state.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Having lived within walking distance of Euston for many years, the area around the station is less than salubrious. There's also very little else in the way of free public toilets available nearby, so these toilets see a lot of use beyond just passengers. If there were more toilets available nearby, I wonder if they wouldn't be in such a state.

This is possibly true. One of the issues of free station toilets is them being (mis)used by local homeless people who often don't treat them with much respect nor their clientelle. Charing Cross is particularly bad for that - to me they feel downright unsafe, though they now seem to have posted a security guard at the top of the stairs to try to manage that.

Of course toilets need to be provided for homeless people too, but I am unconvinced this should be the job of the railway, particularly when this is to the detriment of its customers.

This isn't just me being prissy about them looking a bit rough (many passengers do too), but more that they're often drunk and disorderly.

 

[43066]

There's also very little else in the way of free public toilets available nearby

Lack of public toilets is a wider problem in London, and indeed country wide.

Of course toilets need to be provided for homeless people too, but I am unconvinced this should be the job of the railway, particularly when this is to the detriment of its customers.

Indeed. Undoubtedly part of the reason there are so many problems with station toilets is that they’re some of the last remaining free publicly accessible toilets, so the “issues” are concentrated there.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Lack of public toilets is a wider problem London, and indeed country wide.

Certainly, and there's little that discriminates against more protected characteristics than non provision of toilets.

 

[317 forever]

All mainline termini toilets are free now. In fact I think all Network Rail stations are.

Furthermore, a couple of weeks ago I was relieved to discover that the toilets at Manchester Victoria are now free (if you don't mind my wording )

 

[Liverpool 507]

Agreed. Most of the recent refurbs seem to use domestic quality fittings and as a result they are falling to bits. Liverpool Central is another.

Liverpool Central and Moorfields should be gleaming soon, given they have been shut both at the same time since January (inconvenient to have both stations out, particularly of a weekend).

London Euston toilets haven't been too bad when I have been, but this was back in April 2022 when I last passed there. Liverpool Lime Street NR main station toilets aren't nice either.

 

[uglymonkey]

Why oh why are the London Bridge toilets outside the ticket gate line? If you change trains and want to go, you have to swipe in and out again. Agree for the volume its way to small and "cosy". Trying to build only one toilet set for the underground and the mainline to save money I guess?

 

[trainophile]

Why oh why are the London Bridge toilets outside the ticket gate line? If you change trains and want to go, you have to swipe in and out again.

Same at Manchester Victoria. It's annoying that there are no facilities within the platform area.

After the long refurb closure at Chester, I can't see any difference now they have re-opened. I don't know what took them so long, there's no discernible difference.

 

[156gricer]

Euston toilets is known for cottaging.

It‘s true. I’m ex Network Rail now, but it was known in the company while I was there (2 years ago)