Inconvenient for TOCs?

One issue that seems to be ignored involves lavatories on train services. I can understand that one is not required on a bus, but they are needed on trains - whether suburban or long-distance.

Passengers (not customers) travel longer distances on a train than they do on a bus. (I know that there are long-distance bus journeys made, but on these services a toilet is available).

For example, more passengers travel by train between Leeds and Sheffield than by bus - not just because it is quicker, but because if there is a call of nature on a train it can be answered.

And has anyone wondered why trams have no lavatory? Simply cost and lost profit. To install a lavatory on trams there are two main problems:

Loss of seats because a larger, more accessible toilet has to be fitted.

The floor of the tram has to be higher to accommodate the waste water tanks, which would

require tram stops to be made much higher.

Both these problems also affect tram-trains, so because the installation of toilets and raised tram-train stops is expensive, I think we can all assume that when these new types of passenger transit vehicles are introduced toilets will not be available.

So heaven help the passenger with bladder issues when these are introduced on inter-urban routes.

Why do train operating companies (TOCs) think that suburban train services do not need a loo to be installed on their trains?

Simple answer: it affects potential profits, to the detriment of passengers’ service, comfort and safety. And anything that may have a negative effect on profit is unacceptable (just like having a guard on every train, even though having a guard keeps the passenger safe).

Ask any passenger who has been physically or sexually assaulted on a train which they prefer: the assault being prevented by the presence of a guard, or the person being convicted of the crime because of CCTV evidence.

The second, while helpful, carries with it the baggage of psychological trauma for a much longer period. But it is cheaper, so has a better effect on profits, and so is preferable… to the TOCs!

John Smith-Warren, Wakefield