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Just to add - 2 car 195s only have one compressor, which is fitted on the non-toilet vehicle. This occupies the space below solebar that is taken up with the retention tank and other associated gubbins on the toilet vehicle.
3 car 195s have 2 compressors, one on each non-toilet vehicle.
There is very little space for the equipment needed for a second toilet without a significant redesign.
But as @skyhigh pointed out in post 28, in this case the toilet was locked out due to "vandalism" - what's to say 2 toilets wouldn't have been vandalised ? And how do you prevent vandalism ?
I think the 2-car 170s that TPE had only had a big toilet, but it's been a while.
Given the space they take up, and the need for tanks as we quite rightly no longer consider dumping on the track to be acceptable, the way to address this issue is by improving facilities at stations especially on shorter-distance services and/or those which are only two carriages. Toilets at stations are plumbed into the water and sewage systems so are far less likely to go out of order.
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We're in the Speculative section, so here goes: how about removable tanks not too dissimilar to those used in motorhomes or touring caravans (known as "cassette toilets") though obviously larger? The pros would be that they could be easier to swap out at termini compared to running to and from a depot... the downsides would be that it wouldn't be a pleasant job, so the crews doing it wouldn't come cheap. They'd also be new staff because good luck getting unions to agree to existing staff taking this extra rather nasty work without a hefty premium. There's also issues with hygiene, smells, what you actually do with the contents from the tanks (does it just go into local sewers? Can the sewers cope?)... on balance I suspect it's a neat idea until you actually think about putting it into practice.
Cassette is not a bad idea, especially if they were relatively easy to detach and attach.
I must admit I was thinking of some form of high-powered suction hose that could be added and used to quickly empty most of the tank. That need be no more horrible to operate than any other task that is done on depots.
Needless to say, the unions would complain. However, I cannot see the public having much sympathy. Anyone who has been on a train with no working toilet would certainly feel that adding a hose to the train would be no problem. It is not like the design would involve the operator touching anything unpleasant. We rightly have tanks to help track workers, so this is just a case of the unions giving a little back to help passengers avoid trains with full tanks closing toilets.
There are still some very long journeys on these West Mids trains. Hereford to Birmingham is 1 hr 30 ish, Worcester to Leamington takes about half a lifetime! You may not need to go when you get on, but that’s a long time to wait if you do find yourself caught short. Personally I’m lucky enough to have the constitution of an elephant so could probably manage it, but there are plenty of medical reasons why you may not be able to.
Hereford to New St isn't operated by 172s, it's 196s and was previously 170s. It did temporarily use them but I believe that's now finished. 172s are now back on Snow Hill Lines services only I believe.
If you use Snow Hill Lines services to go from Hereford to Birmingham (changing at Worcester) you're either a nutter or an enthusiast.
Worcester to Leamington takes about half a lifetime! You may not need to go when you get on, but that’s a long time to wait if you do find yourself caught short. Personally I’m lucky enough to have the constitution of an elephant so could probably manage it, but there are plenty of medical reasons why you may not be able to.
I can't imagine demand for Worcester to Leamington being very high, like Merseyrail it's mostly about going to the city centre with the cross-city operation intended more to give a decent split of central destinations, and anyone who can't last that time will just stop off at Moor St and "go" there if it's not working.
Some were talking of the tube earlier, I don’t think that’s anything like using a mainline train there are stops every couple of minutes and you can choose to get off when you need to go given the high frequency of the service
Hereford to New St isn't operated by 172s, it's 196s and was previously 170s. It did temporarily use them but I believe that's now finished. 172s are now back on Snow Hill Lines services only I believe.
If you use Snow Hill Lines services to go from Hereford to Birmingham (changing at Worcester) you're either a nutter or an enthusiast.
I can't imagine demand for Worcester to Leamington being very high, like Merseyrail it's mostly about going to the city centre with the cross-city operation intended more to give a decent split of central destinations, and anyone who can't last that time will just stop off at Moor St and "go" there if it's not working.
Some were talking of the tube earlier, I don’t think that’s anything like using a mainline train there are stops every couple of minutes and you can choose to get off when you need to go given the high frequency of the service
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