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Many passenger trains (usually medium and long-distance) have toilet facilities, often at the ends of carriages. Toilets suitable for wheelchair users are larger, and hence trains with such facilities may not have toilets in each carriage.
The traditional method of disposing human waste from trains is to deposit the waste onto the tracks or, more often, onto nearby ground, using what is known as a hopper toilet. This ranges from a hole in the floor to a full-flush system (possibly with sterilization). The hole in the floor (also known as a drop chute toilet or direct flush toilet) system is still in use in many parts of the world, particularly on older rolling stock. The principal disadvantage is that it can be considered crude or unhygienic and dangerous to health and the environment – it litters the railway lines and can convey serious health risks when the train passes over or under a waterway. Passengers may be discouraged from flushing or using toilets while the train is at a station or standing at a red signal. To enforce this limitation, toilets may be automatically locked when the train pulls into a station or stops at a red signal. In the United States, railway employees were required to lock the toilets closed whenever a passenger train stood in a station or at any other location designated by instructions in the timetable. Toilets would promptly be unlocked upon departure.
Properly-designed drop chute toilets will draw air like a chimney, pulling air through the lavatory door vents and down and out through the toilet, reducing odor. [1] Hopper toilets are similar to old-fashioned sea toilets in that they release the excreta directly to the environment, untreated.
In the United States, Amtrak phased out its use of these toilets in the 1980s after waste from a Silver Meteor train crossing the St. Johns River in Florida, between Palatka and DeLand, landed on a fisherman who filed a lawsuit. [2]
In the UK, at the end of 2019, hopper toilets on timetabled passenger services remained in use. A plan to protect all rail workers and reduce public health risks was delayed with several operators applying for waivers. [3]
In 2021, Indian Railways completed the phaseout of drop chute toilets, replacing them with indigenously developed bio-toilets. Apart from improving hygiene, the phaseout will save Indian Railways 4 billion rupees annually, due to the elimination of corrosion on the rails caused by human waste. [4] They were replaced with bio-vacuum toilets, which use bacteria to decompose human waste, fulfilling a phaseout pledge made in 2010. [5]
Chemical holding tanks (retention tanks) are usually included on newer carriages and railcars in wealthier and more densely populated parts of the world. One issue is that the tanks need to be regularly emptied, often at a terminal station or prolonged stop-over. If a train needs to be used again quickly, the tanks may not get emptied. In this case, toilets may back up, which can result in toilets being closed.
Vacuum systems used in the newest carriages are similar to those in airliners: waste is pulled into a holding tank with a high pressure pump. Their disadvantages are the same as of chemical holding tanks, in addition they require stable power supply for working, and flushing of anything else but water and human waste (e.g. toilet paper) can easily break the pump.
Some trains may have composting toilet tanks, which use bacterial action to break down solid and liquid waste. Only the broken down clean liquid is released to the trackbed after sterilisation. The solid waste only has to be emptied every half year. This type of toilet is in use in some trains in the Netherlands and Switzerland. [6] [7]
In the United States, Dvořák's tune "Humoresque Number 7" became the setting for a series of mildly scatological humorous verses, [8] regarding passenger train toilets, beginning:
Passengers will please refrain
From flushing toilets while the train
Is standing in the station (I love you)...
In The Good Soldier Svejk , author Jaroslav Hašek used hypocatastasis to indicate the fruit of hopper toilets, while conveying soldiers' envy and contempt for their general officer: [9]
In the station restaurant the general began to speak again about the latrines and to say how ugly it looked when there were cactuses everywhere on the track. Meanwhile he ate beef steak and all of them imagined that he had a cactus in his mouth.
A popular Russian internet running joke and one of the most popular Yandex search requests is "what would happen if you dropped a crowbar into a train toilet at full speed?"
A railroad car, railcar, railway wagon, railway carriage, railway truck, railwagon, railcarriage or railtruck, also called a train car, train wagon, train carriage or train truck, is a vehicle used for the carrying of cargo or passengers on a rail transport network. Such cars, when coupled together and hauled by one or more locomotives, form a train. Alternatively, some passenger cars are self-propelled in which case they may be either single railcars or make up multiple units.
A flush toilet is a toilet that disposes of human waste by using the force of water to flush it through a drainpipe to another location for treatment, either nearby or at a communal facility, thus maintaining a separation between humans and their waste. Flush toilets can be designed for sitting or squatting, in the case of squat toilets. Most modern sewage treatment systems are also designed to process specially designed toilet paper. The opposite of a flush toilet is a dry toilet, which uses no water for flushing.
A travel class is a quality of accommodation on public transport. The accommodation could be a seat or a cabin for example. Higher travel classes are designed to be more comfortable and are typically more expensive.
The North Tyneside Steam Railway and Stephenson Steam Railway are visitor attractions in North Shields, North East England. The museum and railway workshops share a building on Middle Engine Lane adjacent to the Silverlink Retail Park. The railway is a standard gauge line, running south for 2 miles (3.2 km) from the museum to Percy Main. The railway is operated by the North Tyneside Steam Railway Association (NTSRA). The museum is managed by Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums on behalf of North Tyneside Council.
The British Rail Mark 3 is a type of passenger carriage developed in response to growing competition from airlines and the car in the 1970s. A variant of the Mark 3 became the rolling stock for the High Speed Train (HST).
Hollywood station is a train station in Hollywood, Florida, which is served by Tri-Rail and Amtrak. The station is located at 3001 Hollywood Boulevard, just west of I-95 and State Road 9.
The Silver Star is a long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak on a 1,522-mile (2,449 km) route between New York City and Miami via Washington, D.C., Richmond, Virginia, Raleigh, North Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, Savannah, Georgia, Jacksonville, Florida, and Tampa, Florida. The Silver Star and its sister train in the Silver Service brand, the Silver Meteor, are the descendants of numerous long-distance trains that operated between Florida and New York for most of the 20th century.
A chemical toilet collects human excreta in a holding tank and uses chemicals to minimize odors. They do not require a connection to a water supply and are used in a variety of situations. These toilets are usually, but not always, self-contained and movable. A chemical toilet is structured around a relatively small tank, which requires frequent emptying. It is not connected to a hole in the ground, nor to a septic tank, nor is it plumbed into a municipal system leading to a sewage treatment plant. When the tank is emptied, the contents are usually pumped into a sanitary sewer or directly to a treatment plant.
Orlando Health/Amtrak station, also known as Orlando station, is a train station in Orlando, Florida. It is served by Amtrak, the national railroad passenger system of the United States, and SunRail, the commuter rail service of Greater Orlando, as well as local and intercity buses. It serves Amtrak's Silver Meteor and Silver Star lines. Built in 1926, the historic station is located in Downtown Orlando approximately one mile south of the central business district, near the campus of Orlando Health. Serving 160,442 passengers at last measure in 2013, The station is Amtrak's fifth busiest in the Southeastern United States; it is the second busiest Amtrak station in Florida, behind the Sanford station of the Auto Train.
Fort Lauderdale station is a train station in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It is served by Tri-Rail and Amtrak. The station is located on Southwest 21st Terrace, just south of West Broward Boulevard.
West Palm Beach station is a train station in West Palm Beach, Florida. It is served by Amtrak passenger rail and Tri-Rail commuter rail service. It is located at 203–209 South Tamarind Avenue, south of First Street/Banyan Boulevard.
The British Rail Class 376 Electrostar is a class of electric multiple unit passenger train that was manufactured by Bombardier Transportation at its Derby Litchurch Lane Works. It is part of the Electrostar family, which are the most common EMUs introduced since the privatisation of British Rail. The units were ordered by Connex South Eastern and introduced in 2004/2005 by South Eastern Trains to replace Class 465 and Class 466, which were transferred to Outer Suburban services to Kent to replace the Class 423 slam-door trains.
Littlehampton railway station is in Littlehampton in the county of West Sussex, England. The station and the trains serving it are operated by Southern.
Heaton TMD is a railway traction maintenance depot situated in the Heaton area of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, it is located next to the East Coast Main Line, around 2 miles (3 km) east of Newcastle Central station. Heaton was a sub-shed of Gateshead between 1963 and 1967.
Savannah station is an Amtrak train station in Savannah, Georgia. The station was built in 1962 to replace the older Savannah Union Station, torn down for construction of I-16. Located at 2611 Seaboard Coastline Drive, the station consists of a terminal building on the east side of the north–south tracks, with a platform between the tracks.
Hamlet station is an Amtrak train station in Hamlet, North Carolina, United States. The station is located within the Main Street Commercial Historic District and is in walking distance to the National Railroad Museum and Hall of Fame.
A honeywagon or honeycart is the slang term for a "vacuum truck" for collecting and carrying human excreta. These vehicles may be used to empty the sewage tanks of buildings, aircraft lavatories, passenger train toilets and at campgrounds and marinas as well as portable toilets. The folk etymology behind the name 'honeywagon' is thought to relate to the honey-colored liquid that comes out of it when emptying the holding tanks.
An aircraft lavatory or plane toilet is a small room on an aircraft with a toilet and sink. They are commonplace on passenger flights except some short-haul flights. Aircraft toilets were historically chemical toilets, but many now use a vacuum flush system instead.
A toilet is a piece of sanitary hardware that collects human urine and feces, and sometimes toilet paper, usually for disposal. Flush toilets use water, while dry or non-flush toilets do not. They can be designed for a sitting position popular in Europe and North America with a toilet seat, with additional considerations for those with disabilities, or for a squatting posture more popular in Asia, known as a squat toilet. In urban areas, flush toilets are usually connected to a sewer system; in isolated areas, to a septic tank. The waste is known as blackwater and the combined effluent, including other sources, is sewage. Dry toilets are connected to a pit, removable container, composting chamber, or other storage and treatment device, including urine diversion with a urine-diverting toilet.
A toilet is a small room used for privately accessing the sanitation fixture (toilet) for urination and defecation. Toilet rooms often include a sink (basin) with soap/handwash for handwashing, as this is important for personal hygiene. These rooms are typically referred to in North America as half-bathrooms in a private residence.
