Great Western Coffee Shop

Toilet charges have been scrapped at all of Britain’s busiest railway stations.

Network Rail chief executive Andrew Haines said: “Passengers have told us that toilets are an important issue for them and taking this step is just one of a number of small measures we are taking to put our passengers first, by helping to make their journeys a bit more hassle-free.”

Anthony Smith, chief executive of independent watchdog Transport Focus, said: “Scrapping toilet charges is a welcome step for passengers. Toilets are a priority for improvement at stations according to our research and will signal the end of fumbling around in your pocket for change to spend a penny.”

Other improvements being made at Network Rail stations include the introduction of water fountains, better and more seating, and reducing clutter on concourses

Peeing for free is no April Fool’s joke for millions of passengers

It’s no joke – and certainly not an April Fool’s joke - as Network Rail today (1 April 2019)  made the last of the country’s biggest and busiest station toilets ‘free to pee’.

Until recently, as I said, the almost total separation of terms between British and American English would have applied also to train station. But it appears that the term is relatively new even in the USA, where railroad station was once the norm. But train station is old enough there for us to be sure of the direction in which it has travelled, and vigorous enough to oust the older term. Perhaps its introduction followed the logic of one of my younger staff. When I pointed out some years ago that she used train station, she replied that of course that was the right term: she caught a bus at a bus station, and so she would expect to board a train at a train station. Obvious really. Why didn’t we all think of that before?