Regional fleet toilets...

[whole diary]

[thetrout]

Is it just me... or have the toilets on the regional fleets (Class 150 and 158) been a bit of a state lately??

I can think of 5 occasions (but would really rather not) of where the toilets on regional fleet trains have been barely if not at all usable!!

I would complain about the state of the train I got on earlier as that was most unpleasant - but as my last complaint was somewhat toilet related (more discovering something in a toilet that I unfortunate pleasure of stepping on... and could have proved very unpleasant should it have been found by a small child... ) i'm reluctant to complain for fear of getting a name for myself.........

Or is thetrout being silly again...??

[Timmer]

No you are not being silly Trout, it's just sad to say that train toilets, particularly on regional local services, are best avoided. I don't think they are as well maintained as on long distance services but even these at times leave a lot to be desired after a long journey. Not helped by modern IC^▸ (Inter City) trains such as Voyagers and Pendolinos having less toilets than you would find on an HST^▸ (High Speed Train)/Mk3 coach which mostly have two per carriage rather than 1 per carriage.

[smithy]

the trout i urge you to complain as the west fleet toilets are an absolute disgrace.
i can name several 158's that have had missing/broken toilets for a matter of MONTHS not days,staff continue to report issues but nothing ever gets done to them.if you see one locked look on the label as crew put a date on them when it was locked the depot normally just renew the label so pax dont see the date is weeks/months old.
it makes a mockary of the little stickers they have put in toilets saying FGW^▸ (First Great Western) strive to have the best facilities and they are cleaned and maintained on a regular basis,really i beg to differ!!!!!!
another problem is a lot of the hand towel holders are broken and as such no way of drying hands.

in stark contrast the HST^▸ (High Speed Train) fleet do not seem so bad in the toilet dept,maybe if the west dmu's went in the direction of the capital things would be different?

[Sprog]

RUBBISH, utter rubbish. We do no such thing.

For ages now we have been repainting walls and replacing damged/missing toilet seats, towelmasters & soap dispencers by the dozen every week.

The reason things are declining currently is becuase it is getting to the point now where they are being broken so often that we are running low on stock of parts to replace/repair them and the other damage being done (acid etching/vandalism etc) is often too severe to be sorted on the FPXs the units have over night, which have very narrow windows for repairs, meaning they have to be deffered until the next A/B Exam.

The only people to blame for the state of the toilets on the west fleet are the people (i use that term very loosley) who use the trains. Some people are worse than animals, for example....

I was en-route to Westbury several weeks ago, riding a troublesome unit with a Mob Tech. Sat in the leading cab, arriving at Bath a rather attractive lady caught my eye on our platform and a quick glance out of the front set of doors confirmed that she boarded our unit.

Later on leaving Bradford-O-A we walked through the train to the back cab to take some voltage readings from the Train wire terminals and coinciently I notied her entering and locking the disabled toilet as we walked down the train.

When we arrived at Trow, the guard came down to the back cab looking pretty sickend and we asked him what was wrong. Speechless, he lead us down the train and opened the disabled toilet door which he had LOOU^▸ (locked out of use). We were greeted by one of the most disgusting smells and sights I have seen to date (and ive seen trains post one-under). There was feaces all over the toilet pan and rim, on the open lid and even in the area between the pan and the wall, literally running down the wall along with toilet paper crammed down the pan. It didnt even look like the person had sat down.

It was vile and we then realised that considering the timescale, it must have been the 'work' of the woman i noticed earlier, who we could see sat further down the next coach & as we left the unit at Westbury, she was seen causually walking down the steps to the subway. I couldnt believe that someone so innocent looking and well presented could do such a rancid thing...

It was simply vile and i really pitty the poor person who had the unfortunte task of cleaning up the mess.

[JayMac]

Glad I'd finish my dinner before reading the proceeding post!

[Sprog]

Sorry, probably should of added a content warning at the beginning of the post!!

[Timmer]

Sorry, probably should of added a content warning at the beginning of the post!!

Maybe, but it least it serves as a reminder to us all of what has to be put with at times in a public serving company such as the railways.

[Mookiemoo]

(TMI WARNING)


I want to know HOW people do that

The worst I did was at kew bridge station - morning after a heavy session and curry

On the way to the station - had the urge.  Was half way between the Mc Donalds and the station where I was about to arrive on time for train.

Continued forth

Got onto train - a 450 HC from waterloo to weybridge

and Had no choice - was only after I went I discovered there was no water in the tank - this was about 0800 in the morning.  I found the TM^‡(resolve) and suggested he lock it out of use - I feel for the poor people who had to clean it - had there been water I would have flushed numerous times

But in the case described above - HOW?

[Sprog]

LOL^▸ (laughing out loud)

Dehli Belly!!! haha

We still to this day cant get our heads around it.

The unit was 99% certain tanked becuase the hand basin certainly worked and the unit had come off of the depot with a fresh FPX that morning after spending several days being picked apart on fault finding but being 'NFFd' (No Fault Found!). It failed later at Pompey with a totally differant problem to what we were riding it for!!!

In my almost 5 years on the Railway so far, i have seen and heard of some horrific and unbelievable things found by cleaners, maintenance staff and production support over the years, on the West fleet and the HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train). Some of the carraige cleaners have told me stomach churning tales...

[devon_metro]

LOL^▸ (laughing out loud)

Dehli Belly!!! haha

We still to this day cant get our heads around it.

The unit was 99% certain tanked becuase the hand basin certainly worked and the unit had come off of the depot with a fresh FPX that morning after spending several days being picked apart on fault finding but being 'NFFd' (No Fault Found!). It failed later at Pompey with a totally differant problem to what we were riding it for!!!

It wasn't 950 was it? had that fail rather mysteriously on me a couple of Sundays back

[smithy]

RUBBISH, utter rubbish. We do no such thing.

For ages now we have been repainting walls and replacing damged/missing toilet seats, towelmasters & soap dispencers by the dozen every week.

The reason things are declining currently is becuase it is getting to the point now where they are being broken so often that we are running low on stock of parts to replace/repair them and the other damage being done (acid etching/vandalism etc) is often too severe to be sorted on the FPXs the units have over night, which have very narrow windows for repairs, meaning they have to be deffered until the next A/B Exam.

The only people to blame for the state of the toilets on the west fleet are the people (i use that term very loosley) who use the trains. Some people are worse than animals, for example....

I was en-route to Westbury several weeks ago, riding a troublesome unit with a Mob Tech. Sat in the leading cab, arriving at Bath a rather attractive lady caught my eye on our platform and a quick glance out of the front set of doors confirmed that she boarded our unit.

Later on leaving Bradford-O-A we walked through the train to the back cab to take some voltage readings from the Train wire terminals and coinciently I notied her entering and locking the disabled toilet as we walked down the train.

When we arrived at Trow, the guard came down to the back cab looking pretty sickend and we asked him what was wrong. Speechless, he lead us down the train and opened the disabled toilet door which he had LOOU^▸ (locked out of use). We were greeted by one of the most disgusting smells and sights I have seen to date (and ive seen trains post one-under). There was feaces all over the toilet pan and rim, on the open lid and even in the area between the pan and the wall, literally running down the wall along with toilet paper crammed down the pan. It didnt even look like the person had sat down.

It was vile and we then realised that considering the timescale, it must have been the 'work' of the woman i noticed earlier, who we could see sat further down the next coach & as we left the unit at Westbury, she was seen causually walking down the steps to the subway. I couldnt believe that someone so innocent looking and well presented could do such a rancid thing...

It was simply vile and i really pitty the poor person who had the unfortunte task of cleaning up the mess.

what about 798 missing the pan for best part of 10 months,954 had toilet out of use for 4 months waiting spares,959 with a blocked pan for 2 months??

[dmutony]

im with sprog on this one i also work on the west fleet DMU^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit)'s and alot of the reason the toilets are L.O.O.U is due to vandilism, and having short supply of stock to repair them and also lack of time on an FPX at night to fix them, they wouldnt treat their toilets at home like it so why should they treat our trains like it??? how would they like it if i went round to their houses and kicked the toilet seat off and rammed a hole roll of tissue paper down the pan and flushed it so it over flowed all over the floor, and smeared feaces all over the walls they wouldnt like it at all. i have seen some horrific sights in the toilets on the west fleet and some of them have made me physically sick and i have a very strong stomach, and another thing is every toilet is graffitied by KNOE i wish some one would catch him at it and make him repaint all the panels and replacce all the windows he has damaged!!!!!!!!!!

[Sprog]

what about 798 missing the pan for best part of 10 months,954 had toilet out of use for 4 months waiting spares,959 with a blocked pan for 2 months??

Being a multiskilled technician, not a toilet technician, i couldnt tell you precisely, but you have answered your own question for the first two units you mentioned. 798 didnt have a 2nd standard toilet when it came over to FGW^▸ (First Great Western), it was just an empty room. The toilet was slowly reinstated bit by bit (alot of work) each time it visited SPM^▸ (St Philip's Marsh (Bristol depot)) for a B exam, then a stumbing point was hit with regards to sourcing an apprppriate toilet pan & seat assembly to fit. Unfortuntely, nothing ever seems to happen fast on the railway and for reasons totally beyond me, the toilets and pans are specially made to order believe it or not, hence the long lead times. 959, no idea...must have been one big **** for it to take 2 months to clear it!!! 

[dog box]

This topic just goes to show what work FGW^▸ (First Great Western) staff actually have to do to keep things  operational, i really do think at times passengers think the trains are put away at night and started up the next morning....just like your car!!
As all of the stock is 20 plus years old ... just try popping into your local ford dealer for a wiper motor for that 1985 ford escort you have tucked up in the garage and see how you get on

[Tim]

I do pity the staff, but the HST^▸ (High Speed Train) loos do seem to be better.  If it is not a difference in maintenance, is it just that there are more of them or do HSTs attract a better class of passengers?