Bevan Price
Established Member
- Joined
- 22 Apr 2010
- Messages
- 7,346
Not any more - they seem to have been closed for some reason.
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Merseyrail again.
- Thread starter Birkonian
- Start date
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RailUK Forums
The accessible toilet at Moorfields is apparently to be kept open whilst the male and female ones are refurbished, then swapped later. At least there will be a facility available to Northern Line passengers, although considerable queues are likely to be the order of the day.
trainophile
Established Member
I don't see why they can't do the Ladies first and then the Gents, or vice versa. I'm sure people wouldn't mind using a unisex area for a while, after all the cleaners can be of either gender. (Assuming there are cubicles in the Gents, maybe close off the urinals!)
Merseyrail have just announced that the toilets in Central station will be closed for 12 weeks for refurbishment. .....
Having themselves cited Moorfields as an alternative for toilet facilities, now Merseyrail have announced the toilets there will also close for a nine-week refurbishment from 15th January - the same date as Central!
This is just utterly brainless. I've never known this network be in such disarray in all my years using it. MTL were better than this!
First diabolical planning.
Second even if to be totally gutted then refitted the time should not be 9 / 12 weeks
In a previous job, I helped to install a number of bathrooms, so I'm left wondering how it's going to take twelve weeks to refurbish two sets of toilets. I'm also unconvinced those at Liverpool Central actually need refurbishing yet, I've experienced far worse and they were perfectly decent when I used them last week.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
They're full of ground in filth and half the fittings are hanging off. I guess you must have low standards
They need to use industrial stainless steel fittings, not domestic style ones.
They're full of ground in filth and half the fittings are hanging off. I guess you must have low standards
They need to use industrial stainless steel fittings, not domestic style ones.
I don't recall seeing any of the urinals, taps, hand dryers or anything in the cubicle I used "hanging off" last Tuesday, or over the past several years of using the gents toilets at Liverpool Central. They could probably do with sprucing up in the not too distant future, but Merseytravel's priority should be improving the poor excuse of a rail service and getting the new lift operational before leaving its busiest station without toilets for twelve weeks. That doesn't equate to me having low standards, which I simply don't have, it's having the opinion of things need to be prioritised and the condition of the toilets at Liverpool Central should be the least of Merseytravel's worries at the moment.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
I've noticed loose taps every time I've used them in recent times.
FWIW this isn't just a Merseyrail thing, Marylebone is the same. The fancy looking domestic style fittings don't work, heavyweight, commercial stainless steel fittings* are required for longevity unless you're going to have a member of staff stood there permanently to continously check and fix.
* Fine for the pans to be porcelain if people prefer that, but if the taps aren't designed for people to climb on them then they'll end up broken. No, they shouldn't need to. Yes, they do need to.
Prioritisation is certainly relevant, but it's probably not either-or as the toilets will probably be done by a third party contractor, so unless there's a financial constraint the toilets can be done at the same time as other things.
I do agree regarding leaving the station toiletless and don't understand why they can't do ladies then gents (or vice versa) with the disabled being available for the relevant people if they really can't find a way to put a couple of portaloos in the ticket hall.
12 and 9 weeks closure time for Central and Moorfields toilets respectively seems an awfully long time to refurbish some toilets 
not to mention scheduling it at the same time. It caused quite some ire on Twitter, especially after the response of the social media people was to say that Moorfields toilets could be used as an alternative to the Central closures!
not to mention scheduling it at the same time. It caused quite some ire on Twitter, especially after the response of the social media people was to say that Moorfields toilets could be used as an alternative to the Central closures!Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
12 and 9 weeks closure time for Central and Moorfields toilets respectively seems an awfully long time to refurbish some toilets
Yes, I'm not entirely sure why it's taking so long - two to three weeks would seem a reasonable time for that sort of job. Unless they're doing a major rebuild of that part of the station building rather than just ripping out, retiling, reflooring and putting new fittings in.
John Luxton
Established Member
There appears to be a problem on Southport to Hunt's Cross this afternoon.
Announcements in Liverpool Central of a person hit by a train at Freshfield. Presume its the Fisherman's Path Crossing again?
from RTT the 11:57 from Southport terminated at Freshfield.
Announcements in Liverpool Central of a person hit by a train at Freshfield. Presume its the Fisherman's Path Crossing again?
from RTT the 11:57 from Southport terminated at Freshfield.
Neil Polo
Member
It’s chaos. They’re just getting things going again but there will probably be disruption the rest of the day. I was on 507001 going up from Hunt’s Cross and we were dumped at Sandhills.
John Luxton
Established Member
Unfortunately the incident today at Freshfield has resulted in a fatality.
www.liverpoolecho.co.uk
Man dies after being hit by train on Merseyrail line
Officers were called to the line near Freshfield railway station
jamesst
Member
Which has been done for the past couple of years now, this isn't a new thing. And which it is also worth pointing out is coming from Network Rail rather than Merseyrail
What does that achieve? Does Merseyrail not have de-icer trains?
jamesst
Member
Nope. It's network rails track, the mpv does the de-icing.
Merseyrail run empty stocks round the network overnight where possible- this subject to overnight engineering work requirements and driver availability.
However after a few incidents in previous years in 3rd rail land of passengers stuck on trains unable to move due to excessive ice on the live rail the modern day thinking is run the 1st few trains empty stock as route provers.
cheekybifta
Member
Supposedly Network Rail can use MPVs on the Merseyrail network for scraping ice from the conductor rail and then spraying de-icer. Often see one parked up behind Chester station.
That's where my knowledge ends. Maybe the MPVs weren't needed today and wouldn't have saved the first trains from running empty anyway - or maybe they have been out deicing but running the first ones empty is still deemed worthwhile. Either way, I'd assume (and hope!) there's a better reason than simply cost or cant be bothered.
What a mad world we live in. It's -1, not -10. My bike still works, people still drive their cars. No excuse for the trains not working. There a video on YouTube of 508s back in 1994 running in several inches of snow.
EDIT: Apologies, I didn't spot the snow forecast. There's a fair bit at Bidston but none in West Kirby. All routes seem okay, apart from Headbolt Lane.
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What I mean by Merseytravel should prioritise is they should be doing their best to minimise disruption to already disgruntled passengers, rather than make it even worse. We're now in the situation where the service is woefully poor, Liverpool Central's new lift isn't ready and now that station's toilets are being taken out of use for twelve weeks. The only way I can possibly envision a timeline of anywhere near twelve weeks is if they're also going to add a Changing Spaces toilet, like TfW are as part of their refresh of the concourse toilets at Chester, but I've not seen anything to suggest this is the case.
They've not that long been refurbished, when Cerntral got a bit of a makeover a few years ago. A bit of maintenance wouldn't go amiss but that doesn't mean months of closure.
Not to mention the 'do not travel' warnings every time the wind gets going.
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It was a little over ten years ago from memory, but they're holding up pretty well in my view. I don't recall my partner complaining about the ladies toilets when she used them a couple of months ago either, and she can be very fussy.
507/508s regularly welded themselves to the 3rd rail for hours at a time in the 90s/00s on the Ellesmere Port branch in various levels of ice
jamesst
Member
Haha you can't say truthful facts like that on this forum!!
I've never seen so much fuss about IMPROVING a facility!
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I used to travel around in the Southeast when it snowed. Only got stuck once and never had a train that welded itself to the third rail. It's only a problem if it rains followed by a frost. Or a cold spell with a sudden rise in temperature followed by rain. Then the rain freezes on to everything it touches. Doesn't just affect the trains. Makes it very hard to walk, cycle or drive too.
The toilets at Central did smell quite dreadful and at least one of the cubicles had its lock missing for years, but this is nothing better care and maintenance wouldn't solve. They really suffer for a lack of a dedicated attendant unlike Lime Street's, which are much better.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
Lime St's used to be disgusting until Network Rail took over. A human presence certainly helps against vandalism etc, though Central's are within sight of the gateline so if someone went in to smash them up it'd probably be noticed.
John Luxton
Established Member
There are a number of portaloos at Chester at the moment whilst the main concourse toilets are being refurbished.
Yesterday, went to use the one which wasn't occupied.
I discovered why -some someone had decided to wipe you know what over the hot water knob and the soap dispenser.
Why some people deliberately mess up public toilets, this was obviously not an accident.
Have they never desperately needed a look and found the only serviceable one was vandalised or filthy?