Toilets in smaller train stations face closure

Attention: The toilet currently on platform one will be leaving the station shortly.

Iarnród Éireann has been criticised for “penny-pinching inconvenience” after the company admitted it’s planning to close toilets in a number of smaller stations as part of cost-cutting measures.

It also intends to reduce costs in some other stations by replacing male and female toilets with a unisex facility.

“In some of our lesser-used stations, we have been reviewing facilities, as there are costs from vandalism, anti-social behaviour and water use,” an Iarnród Éireann spokesman said.

“In some stations, we are making no change due to high patterns of usage and specific requirements. When stations are unmanned, some will not have toilets available as vandalism and anti-social behaviour can occur,” the spokesman said.

The reduction in the number of toilets is to run in tandem with the introduction of new energy-efficient heating, which will cut electricity bills by a third.

“We will also be installing timers to ensure they are only in use when required.”

The company says the removal of toilets and new energy efficiency measures, which will happen this year, will save it more than €450,000 a year as part of “an ongoing cost-control process.”

However, the decision was described as “penny-pinching inconvenience” by a county councillor who obtained an internal memo from the company showing it planned to shut public toilets in a number of stations.

Cllr Ian Doyle discovered the toilet at his town’s station at Charleville in North Cork had been at risk.

“It’s a mile outside of the town. A lot of rural stations are isolated and this is another attack on rural Ireland, What are people to do?,” he said.

The company has since decided not to shut the toilet as it’s close to a disability centre whose clients use the station on a regular basis.