Train journey CFs

[GreenestValley]

On a train and go to the loo - someone is in it

Wait three, four, five minutes. I have a tactic of trying the door handle several times at intervals so as to hopefully embarrass anyone who thinks they can stay in there as long as they like, into emerging

In this instance even with trying the door and eventually knocking, no movement at all. Clearly someone who wants to avoid the ticket inspector for the full 3 hour length of this journey

I obviously just went to another loo but it really pisses me off - when you’ve got carriages of people who have paid sixty quid for a ticket 👿

AIBU or does this really grind the gears for anyone else?!

I’d have flipped my shit if someone was rattling the door. Train toilets are grim, I don’t want to be spending more time in them than I need to. Unfortunately, I have ibs & I can easily sit in my own toilet at home for a good 20 minutes 🤦🏼‍♀️

toilet-womble Brilliant!

I once occupied a train toilet for about 2 hours. I ate lunch out with a friend, got on my train early evening feeling slightly and I can only imagine that something in my lunch wasn't right as I spent the entire train journey vomiting and unable to leave the disgusting stinky train toilet. Worst journey of my life.

*slightly dodgy

if i was in a loo poorly or had problems and someone was incessently rattling the door they'd be told loudly 'i'm ill so i'll be awhile,' if they carried on then it would be fuck off.

I have Crohn’s , people like you are one of our biggest issues - instead of being concerned or just going off to find another toilet rattling the door handle and pushing out anxiety through the roof. Twice I’ve left the toilet early and ended up being caught short simply because someone was hammering on the door - trains should have one designated disabled toilet at least in my opinion

trains should have one designated disabled toilet at least in my opinion

Very good point.

Maybe it was a couple having sex and they needed another 5-10 minutes to finish?

I find that very difficult to believe in such a romantic erotically-charged setting. You would feel like you're on the very canvas of in 'Et in Arcadia ego', only an even more beautiful version

I think 30p to have a wee (or a crap) is outrageous, frankly.

I totally agree - it's not like you go there for fun, is it; and it's a clearly discriminatory ruling against vulnerable people in various circumstances and those with related disabilities and conditions.

Even more unfairly than that, there were some stations and public places where you had to pay to enter the room with cubicles, but there was a side room containing urinals where men could go and have a completely free wee.

having sex in a train toilet that stinks like a male urinal, yes, that's a real turn up to the terminally depserate. urgh

*turn on [not]

See, this would have really annoyed me and, if I were in a peevish mood that day and knew that there were other loos available, I would just stay in there longer to piss you off. It’s really weird to wait for an occupied toilet when there are others available.

There's no good place to have sex on a modern train. It was different in the 1990s.

There's no good place to have sex on a modern train. It was different in the 1990s.

"Let the train take the strain"

Not something I have done personally, I hasten to add!

Not every bloody situation is because someone is disabled, having a crisis, miscarriage or chronic illness.

Loo hogging is a VERY common tactic for fare dodgers and this is more than likely what was happening this time.
It happens every day and staff (on some trains anyway) are very proactive in knowing about it and stoppping it. Others don't seem to bother doing anything, presumably in case one of the afore mentioned 'serious' reasons for hiding in a loo for 2+ hours makes a complaint about the staff member causing them to have PTSD for the rest of their lives because a simple check was made whether they had a valid ticket or not......

'Not every bloody situation is because someone is disabled, having a crisis, miscarriage or chronic illness.'

No, but some are. And it could be a non-chronic illness, such as severe travel sickness. People who do have a disability or illness or crisis can be very badly affected by people just assuming they're taking the piss. Checks about whether you have a valid ticket are perfectly reasonable; attacks for using the loo too much are not. There are already a lot of people who are restricted in leaving their homes because of anxiety about whether they can use the loo when they need to.

Maybe there needs to be a system whereby people who are likely to need the loo more than others should carry some sort of medically-signed card about it (I know there are such schemes in some places for people likely to need the loo urgently in shops). But this wouldn't help people who suddenly become acutely ill.

Of course, there does need to be much more investment in public transport, and enough (working) loos on trains.

@BobbyBlueCat but some are.

I don’t really understand your point.

You might be harassing a fare dodger using OP’s antics, or you might be harassing someone with an illness.

Why risk it?

And waiting in the loo to avoid the ticket inspector doesn't work any more. They just wait outside until you come out!
@MiniMum97 If only I had the time to do that with every scrote hiding in a bog. Then the question of what to do with them when they do emerge... Usually all I can do is refuse to let them on when they are stupid enough to try to board the same train the next day. Mind you, a colleague did have security remove someone who was barricaded in a toilet the other day. Trying to get to London of all places, a journey of more than three hours with at least one change.

It is possible to lock a train loo from the outside (although the OP heard somebody inside, so this can’t be what happened).

I witnessed this happening last year. Some bloody idiot had chosen to sit in one of the seats next to the loo on a Northern train and when somebody emerged from it she reached in and pressed the ‘close’ button. The only loo on the train, naturally. Impossible to open from the outside. When challenged by a man nearby she said, “I don’t like sitting near a toilet”. Then don’t choose the seat next to the loo, you fecking selfish idiot!
I'm not familiar with Northern's new units but for all of the trains I work, the toilet will not lock until the door has been closed first. In other words, if you flip the lock switch before the door has fully closed it will just slide back open. Likewise if you press the lock button before the door is fully closed it will not lock.
Aarrgh, Wombat. I wonder if the driver would be able to override that (without resetting the whole train). I do have an acquaintance who is a train driver but not sure I know them well enough to ask that question. grin
We can always open a locked toilet door, how else would we get someone out if they've collapsed inside? Sometimes this involves a key, other times it's simply forcing the door.

Toilets on one of our classes of unit have the habit of locking themselves for no good reason while empty (usually when the retention tank is getting full). When a toilet has been engaged for a while and no one in the vicinity can tell me that someone is actually in there I will knock on the door, call "is anyone in there, is everything OK?" and if no response I will force the door. So far there has never been anyone in there (God forbid I do eventually come across someone who has collapsed mid-flow) so I simply press the reset button and the toilet can return to use.

*"I think 30p to have a wee (or a crap) is outrageous, frankly."

Frankly, I'd pay more if it meant that they were clean, with bog paper, hot water, soap and a working drier.*
I agree. I used to be in the "how dare they charge for the toilets" camp. Then I used the toilets at Berlin Hauptbahnhof. Everything was spotless, there were showers and everything (though they were under refurbishment when I was there). 1€ well spent. Just what you need when you've spent nearly 24hrs on various trains.

Not every bloody situation is because someone is disabled, having a crisis, miscarriage or chronic illness.

obviously

but realistically, why do you think anyone would want to spend more time than they absolutely have to being bounced around in a stinky toilet?

Calling "fare dodger" because you feel more entitled than someone else to use the loo is ridiculous.

Some posters make it sound like train toilets are the premium place to be. Clearly haven't set foot in such toilet if they believe that.

The toilets in Victoria station were still free last time I went, and they are constantly maintained and cleaned.

The paying toilets in Covent Garden are embarrassing.

Sadly, paying doesn't guarantee anything.

I have a medical problem and if you did that to me, I would emerge, wave my medical card at you and embarrass you in return by announcing your aggressive behaviour and intimidation tactic.

You never know what is going on with somebody.

Coming back OP?

Wow this has clearly stirred up some considerable debate!
I actually had the same thing today in a cafe. Saw a bloke waiting 5-10 minutes outside the loo in the cafe, increasingly impatient. In the end he gave up and went back to his seat. A few minutes later I needed to go and tried the door. Still locked.

I genuinely believe some people don’t understand the etiquette of sharing toilets in public places. Obviously possible train dodging is the worst case scenario but many others are just dawdlers - I see it or see others experiencing it (like above) almost every time I go out.