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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think everyone knows you don't flush train toilets whilst train is standing in a station?

188 replies

ReignBeauDash · 19/02/2023 18:18

I've had to get multiple long distance trains this last week and on several journeys have had to stand in corridors near the toilets as it's been so busy. For various reasons I've not really used trains in about 20 years!

I honestly thought it was common knowledge that you don't flush train toilets whilst at a station? Or has that changed in the last 20 years?

It's like people are actually waiting for the train to stop moving to get out of their seats and head for the loo - over and over at station after station Confused

OP posts:
lljkk · 19/02/2023 22:24

Am pretty sure Greater Anglia sold all its old stock (936s?) to Scotland to use as bike carriages.

MissMaple82 · 19/02/2023 22:26

ReignBeauDash · 19/02/2023 18:24

Now I've googled it, apparently about 25% of trains still do dump the sewage onto the tracks even though it was meant to be banned a couple of years ago.

As a child it was absolutely drummed into me that you never flush at a station!

Yeah, don't flush it at the station, flush it in the countryside for the wildlife to enjoy!!! I'd definitely flush it at the station

DdraigGoch · 19/02/2023 22:31

ReignBeauDash · 19/02/2023 21:37

Also I see that the 8 companies who have managed to get an exemption from the ban include all of Transport for Wales, plus Cross Country, Great Western, Chiltern, West Midlands, Northern, Anglia, and Easy Midlands. That's a sizeable chunk of the rail network who are still discharging human shit onto the tracks, and I'm really surprised more people don't know it's a thing!

No, the ban was a total one from December 2020. Since that date, there have been no trains in public service in the UK which dump onto the track. The only trains which may still do are private charter stock.

flutterbyebaby · 19/02/2023 22:33

JMSA · 19/02/2023 22:20

I had heard that about sewage plants! Loads of tomato plants growing there.

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It's enough to put one of tomatoes for life 😁

flutterbyebaby · 19/02/2023 22:35

What do you do when you want to go the loo in an English country garden? Pull down your pants and paralyse the ants, in an English country garden. Can't stop singing that now!!!

Leftbutcameback · 19/02/2023 22:41

My parents have a sign saying don’t flush the loo when the train is in the station, in our house loo. It’s meant to be a joke obvs as you can hear the trains in the house, but one of my friends when I was younger did take it seriously!

DdraigGoch · 19/02/2023 22:46

flutterbyebaby · 19/02/2023 22:33

It's enough to put one of tomatoes for life 😁

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One of my teachers said that as a kid he'd visit a friend's caravan, where any wee overnight went into a bucket which got poured on the veg patch in the morning. Apparently they were the best tomatoes he'd ever tasted.

dajen · 19/02/2023 22:52

I remember growing up to

‘Don’t use the w.c. while the train is standing at the station
if you’ve got to go ,then you’ve got to go before you reach your destination’

elevenplusdilemma · 20/02/2023 05:52

flutterbyebaby · 19/02/2023 22:18

Is it true or an urban myth that tomato plants grow on tracks because people pass the seeds through their faeces and they end up on the tracks?

Highly likely. Seeds are meant to pass through the digestive tract intact. It's how birds and other wildlife help disperse wild plants / trees.

MavisFlump · 20/02/2023 07:26

TwoLeftSocksWithHoles · 19/02/2023 18:43

Yes it goes into a tank, unlike aeroplanes where they jettison it over disagreeable countries, depending how the pilot feels - I think that's what happens anyway.

Hence the saying about being crapped on from a great height?

Original poster
ReignBeauDash · 20/02/2023 18:26

elevenplusdilemma · 20/02/2023 05:52

Highly likely. Seeds are meant to pass through the digestive tract intact. It's how birds and other wildlife help disperse wild plants / trees.

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It's true. Not that you'd want to eat them, diesel train fumes are quite something for a start 😷

OP posts:
ProfYaffle · 20/02/2023 18:33

flutterbyebaby · 19/02/2023 22:18

Is it true or an urban myth that tomato plants grow on tracks because people pass the seeds through their faeces and they end up on the tracks?

True. It wasn't that long ago I used to stare at the tomato plants at Norwich station while waiting for my train home.

Flossatops · 20/02/2023 18:39

I love this post. This is honestly something I've never heard about before or even considered - and I bet I'm not alone!

Original poster
ReignBeauDash · 20/02/2023 18:39

DdraigGoch · 19/02/2023 22:31

No, the ban was a total one from December 2020. Since that date, there have been no trains in public service in the UK which dump onto the track. The only trains which may still do are private charter stock.

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Some of those lines have been granted an exemption from the ban until the end of 2023 - there are still some passenger trains in service that flush onto tracks 🤢

I'm surprised so many people didn't know it was ever a thing. I did get the train more than most of my friends as a child though - I had a non-driving parent who lived 200 miles away from the age of 2 so I was back and forward on the train a lot for my whole childhood. So it had plenty of opportunity to sink in so far that maybe it can never be deleted from my mind 🤣

OP posts:
Mothership4two · 20/02/2023 18:44

Didn't there used to be signs telling you not to flush at the station? Not sure if I dreamt that now. I thought all trains had sewage tanks in the UK - shocking that they don't.

Mothership4two · 20/02/2023 18:51

MavisFlump · 20/02/2023 07:26

Hence the saying about being crapped on from a great height?

Show quote history

I thought that was a myth and aeroplanes have tanks too. Vaguely remember a QI episode about it. And that the ice that sometimes falls to the ground comes from it forming on the wings

Original poster
ReignBeauDash · 20/02/2023 18:52

Mothership4two · 20/02/2023 18:44

Didn't there used to be signs telling you not to flush at the station? Not sure if I dreamt that now. I thought all trains had sewage tanks in the UK - shocking that they don't.

There definitely used to be signs. They were so familiar to me that I stopped noticing them, hence never noticing their gradual disappearance!

OP posts:
Hmm1234 · 20/02/2023 18:54

So what did they do before? Let it explode into the countryside

juleswatford · 20/02/2023 18:54

Best time to go to when it is coming to a stop. It does not sway so you can aim without getting wet. Or if you are a woman squat and hover over the seat. LOL

Sennelier1 · 20/02/2023 18:57

That's why the earth in between the tracks is so fertile 😜

purplebunny2012 · 20/02/2023 18:57

In the old days on older trains, yes. But not on modern trains. Knock yourself out

Mothership4two · 20/02/2023 18:57

Hmm1234 · 20/02/2023 18:54

So what did they do before? Let it explode into the countryside

Went onto the tracks

Tuskanini · 20/02/2023 18:58

Travellers will please refrain
From urination while the train
Is standing in the station for a while.
people Woking underneath
Will get it in the eyes and teeth…

purplebunny2012 · 20/02/2023 18:58

Mothership4two · 20/02/2023 18:44

Didn't there used to be signs telling you not to flush at the station? Not sure if I dreamt that now. I thought all trains had sewage tanks in the UK - shocking that they don't.

Yes, but as I said above those were older style trains. Modern trains don't have that issue

celticprincess · 20/02/2023 18:59

I tried to go the loo this weekend on a moving train. It’s been a while. I nearly fell off whilst sitting down and again mid flow!! I can see why people prefer to go when stationary!! But the loo was minging. Wet floor and stank of pi**!! Possibly a mix of urine and water from the sink. Glad I wasn’t sat next to it.