The 'confusing and irritating' lottery over paying to use toilets at Scottish rail stations

Access to clean and pleasant toilets is a key aspect to travelling by train and bus that should not be underestimated.

So it was a surprise on recent trips across Scotland to find a variety of approaches to its provision at train and bus stations.

Loos would be immaculate if no one used them, so it’s our fellow passengers who are often to blame when the state of the facilities fall short of what we expect.

That then creates the issue over whether access should be restricted to reduce the likelihood of misuse - as that imposes an extra charge on people opting to take public transport.

Paying to use a toilet is, of course, nothing new. According to English Heritage, “spending a penny” originated in the charge for public conveniences at the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park in London in 1851.

But the confusing - and irritating thing - is you still have to do the modern equivalent at some rail stations in Scotland, but not others.

For instance, passengers used to have to pay for the toilets at both of Glasgow’s main stations - Central and Queen Street. Then five years ago, Network Rail, which runs Central - Scotland’s busiest station - scrapped charges.

But after new toilets were installed as part of the impressively-revamped Queen Street, which is run by ScotRail, charges have been imposed.

Queen Street station still has toilet charges unlike Glasgow Central | Lisa Ferguson/The Scotsman

Even worse, its turnstiles only take coins and do not give change. That means if you don’t have the right money, you’re pretty much stuffed.

By contrast, in Edinburgh, not only are the toilets at Network Rail-operated Waverley station free, but so are those at ScotRail-run Haymarket station.

Toilet charges were abolished at Waverley station in Edinburgh - and Glasgow Central - in 2019 | Lisa Ferguson/The Scotsman

The Scottish Government-owned train operator confirmed it also charges for some of its other station toilets, at Aberdeen, Fort William and Inverness.

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But it’s not just me that’s annoyed about Queen Street. An analysis of Tripadvisor reviews found it had the fourth highest proportion of negative comments among British rail stations.

Significantly, the research, published in April by gaming firm VegasSlotsOnline, found the most frequent complaint at Queen Street was the need to pay 50p in cash to use its toilets.

It said: “One visitor, who rated the station two out of five stars, said ‘the toilet facilities situation is outrageous’, and questioned ‘why is there no contactless option?’

A very good question - and I was impressed to see such technology in use at Inverness bus station’s toilets. It’s the obvious solution.

ScotRail told me Queen Street’s toilets were free of charge during the Covid pandemic, but suffered from significant anti-social behaviour, were badly damaged and staff were abused.

Network Rail didn’t give me an answer when I asked if the same had happened at Central and Waverley. ScotRail said removing charges at Queen Street was “not a viable option”. Customer operations director Phil Campbell even went so far as to justify them as a way of cutting costs: “It is important we deliver the best possible value to the taxpayer, and the charges at selected facilities helps us to do that,” he said.

So, whether or not you need to “spend a penny” depends not just on which city or town you’re in, but in some cases, which station you’re at. I’d be happy to pay - just get a move on with making it easier.