Great Western Coffee Shop

I'm on the 19.05 padd to Henley. The front carriage has a feature that I haven't seen before - the worlds largest toilet!
A toilet is welcome, but it seems to have replaced nearly all of the seating. In this '3rd' of the carriage there are only 11 seats!! I make that 50% of a regular toiletted carriage zone.
On a 3 carriage train to Henley ie. Rammed, this is utterly stupid.

What has happened here?!?  ???

If it's an accessible toilet, then probably the disabled access regulations happened (sorry, can't remember the correct name for the regs)! Although the seats have gone, there is presumably a fair bit of standing space inside said toilet compartment?!  ;)

The PRM-TSI (Persons of Reduced Mobility - Technical Specification for Interoperability) is what has happened.

This new style toilet is being fitted to all of the Turbo fleet. There are also other modifications going on, such as the creation of spaces for two new wheelchairs as part of a general mechanical overhaul of the class 165 and class 166 fleet. 166

There are a couple of interior photos here (http://www.railforums.co.uk/showpost.php?p=1929887&postcount=54) in RailUK Forums:

All good re the new accessible toilet.. Another reason for extra carriages then though... The 19.05 is a train I've avoided as it used to be already full (from people already standing on the platform before it even got into Paddington)
(and for people on the platform to then force their way on to).. So if they have reduced capacity even though the train was full to capacity before then  something needs to happen.. go on DFT.. be kinds to FGW for once..extra carriages  ;-)

I don't know what other services it might be used on but I can be pretty sure that between Paddington and Maidenhead no one will be able to use that toilet on that particular train.. Unless it was their seat of choice from the start of their journey that is :-)

Good to see more accessibility but how can disabled people (in wheelchairs especially) be assured of getting on the train in the first place with the overcrowding we experience, and the extra amount of space which this toilet takes up will not help that?

Plus until Crosssrail comes in there a few stations in the TV where a wheelchair user can join or alight from a train in both directions plus many are also unmanned so no-one to work the ramp where the paltform is accessible..

Remember this wasn't an option for the Turbo fleet, it is necessary to comply with the PRM-TSI regulations that 'Network SouthEast' mentioned.  Remember also that Turbo's don't just work between Reading and London on stopping trains all day, and the dedicated disabled spaces and accessible toilet will I'm sure go down very well with those confined to wheelchairs using them on services on the Gatwick line, Cotswold Line and between many stations where guards are provided, and on the Driver Only routes that have a staffed presence.  Rather better than the current arrangement of having to sit in one of the doorways, or going back to the good old days of DMU's when you would find yourself abandoned in the guards accommodation with nothing but parcels for company!

A total of 15 or so seats have been lost, which of course is a shame, but unavoidable, and I would suggest the actual number of passengers that can be accommodated in that area of the train is comparable to the existing layout, as, unless they are being used by persons confined to a chair, there is actually more available standing room for when it gets really busy.

Hopefully the design of toilet itself will be a suitable one instead of the useless ones that were installed when the trains were last refreshed a few years ago.

I welcome the provision of a toilet that's usable by everyone, and extra capacity for wheelchairs too. That provision should be coming as part of a good provision of on-train facilities for everyone, though, with seating available for anyone who wants it on all but short hops, space for luggage, pushchairs, cycles, and anything else which can legitimatey be brought along. Good lighting / heating / ventilation and a smooth ride on all services; network access where journeys are over 15 minutes and access to recharging points where journeys are over 45 minutes. Trains that are reliable enough to call at all scheduled stations 99% of the time, and to run within 5 minutes of their scheduled time (please, never early) on at least 95% of their scheduled, and backroom systems that allow them to do so.

Some of these goals are not currently achieved, and indeed won't be until there's more capacity in the area - to be brought (we are told) by electrification. And that goes beyond the area that the electric trains will operate in;  it's probable that the trains currently serving Henley-on-Thames will be serving Trowbridge and Frome in 5 years time, and the Network Rail represnetative at their recent road show in Trowbridge, when asked what benefit that county town would get from electrification and a month of bustition to Bath, promised that 2 and 3 coach trains will be replaced by 4 coach ones.

"Disabled" facilities are not only good for the 'traditional' disabled.  A baby in a buggy is every bit as unable to make the leap from the platform to the train on certain Temple Meads platforms as is the chap in a Wheelchair, and such youngsters are very much our future, and very much in the majority at their age - it's no specialist or minority market. And let's celebrate the move towards true provision of access, and good facilites, for all.