Shut them later in the evening, just when they're likely to be most needed?!
Another door fault on 1N92 at Clapham Junction just now. A 22 minute delay on P4. Ouch.
It makes sense that passengers will be getting used to the existence of loos on Metro services so over the first year or so the loos will be get a rising level of use.Shut them later in the evening, just when they're likely to be most needed?!
Wouldn't explain why they're not working in the morning, would it?
The toilet issues, explained somewhere earlier on this thread to be mainly due to the water tanks not being replenished during the day, do seem to be getting worse though. I'd say there's now less than 50% availability at any time of day, with both toilets out of order being common.
That doesn't apply to Windsor lines services where we've largely always been used to loos on trains. All my observations are on Windsor lines services, not on "metro" services.
Yes, according to RTT 701016 is in service today and 701040 is on 5Qxx trips, so may be nearing entry to service too very soon.
I expect passengers will be using the loos more and more so there is more chance of the loos being out of use. That is unless/until the loos (tanks) are serviced more often.
Given the bio degradable nature of the content of WCs on 701's, the tanking would seem to be the issue, and assuming the tank access point can be accessed at platform level, the first thought is that old school bowsers need to be employed on both Main Sub and Windsor side platforms at Waterloo is the answer, surely?
701040 seems to be a record setter for out of storage and into service. Would be great to see it but not holding my breath!
I suspect that 701040 may have been partially prepared before being sent to Farnham.
701s can now as of the last couple months be re-filled with the water browsers/tanks at Waterloo. There was some sort of restriction IIRC. As far as I know water browsers can only be found at Waterloo and at some of the depots (not all). The biggest issue really is that it takes a bit of time to refill the tanks, at least 10 minutes or more I believe to refill both toilets (don’t quote me on that but that’s what I think I remember), which isn’t very long - most trains that arrive on the suburban side of Waterloo are usually in and out within 10 minutes at most, even less if they are slightly delayed. So that’s the actual real problem to be honest, they need to figure out a way to either make the refilling process quicker, which is easier said than done.
SWR have had years to plan for this...
They had new bowsers pretty much as soon as the 701s began construction, I think the main issue is that the fresh water tanks are just too small.
just nine 701‘s left to emter traffic including 003 which still at Derby
Plus all the 5 coach 701s
I was on it. Didn’t realise it was it’s first trip out though.Seems to have struggled a bit
Realtime Trains | 0658 Guildford to London Waterloo | 04/06/2026
Real-time train running information for 0658 departure from Guildford to London Waterloo on 04/06/2026. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.www.realtimetrains.co.uk
Separately, how does one pronounce "Arterio"? My local station's announcements always said "Arteerio," but the announcements at my local station have since changed and now pronounce it "Artehrio".
I mean a simple answer would be to fill them as much as they can within the available time and not work on the basis of requiring a minimum of ten minutes to be able to fill the entire tank.
Or top them up at every opportunity, rather than wait until they are empty.
Both of you are making it out like it’s a very simple thing to do. It does not work like that at all, and just refilling them a little would be an extremely inefficient and ultimately wasteful way of doing things considering how water-hungry the 701 toilets are.
So the inescapable conclusion is that SWR screwed up the specification with water tanks of too small capacity.
I know just counting 701/0 as there’s not any 5 entering service yetPlus all the 5 coach 701s
Not having a go at you for reporting the issues, but it all comes across as the standard railway excuse that everything's far too complicated to be able to do anything about it.
And who is going to man those bowsers?
That's a very negative approach, if can have people contracted to collect litter from carriages, wipe tables, clean toilets etc at suburban termini where there are long layovers, then presumably it's not hard to get same person to top up some water.
I agree it is a bit embarrasing. I wonder if the situation will improve when the whole fleet is in service. Perhaps currently there are diagrams that preclude convenient water stops.
It is going to be the staffing costs that will kill that idea. Furthermore it SHOULD not be a reactive task but one where the tanks are topped up often enough. But it depends how time consuming it is to connect the water supply and disconnect the water supply. It occurs to me that it is also a safety consideration before the train sets off !.
What would be prudent is a filling regime that is not reactive.
I can see the challenge being these cleaning staff are then being expected to attach the train (that can move) to something on the platform (that might get dragged along). Not the same as a cleaning staff member getting left on the train when it leaves. More coordination and training required.
The door mechanism is also a problem on these units. The lock sometimes doesn’t activate and lets someone open the door whilst someone is sat on the toilet!