Coach restrooms

[Oreius]

I just came off riding Silver Star 91. I don’t know if it’s just random bad luck. But this is the 2nd time in a row that I have taken this train and there have been people “trashing” the coach restrooms. On this trip, the Conductor came over the intercom and sounded P.O’d: “People are clogging the toilets!! Please do not throw trash in the toilets and keep the bathrooms clean!!”

This particular conductor, however, may have been on a power trip. She also threatened to charge people for a second seat if they did not remove belongings—apparently every seat in Coach was taken. She also assigned every one their seat and told people they must sit in their assigned seat for the duration of their trip.

Going back to the trashed bathrooms, this also happened on the Star when I rode it last year. The coach bathrooms were trashed apparently just after having been cleaned in Washington DC, and the conductor was not happy. This was a different conductor, however.

I have never ridden in Coach on the Silvers—I’ve always done Sleeper so I can’t speak for myself on how “bad” the bathrooms in Coach are.

Has anyone noticed more bathroom badness occurring on Amtrak? It seems to me some people just don’t respect having communal facilities. The key word here is “some” people. Most people are considerate.

 

[b243923]

I just rode the Auto Train on Friday March 10th in Coach Seats, Sandford to Lorton.

Every time I went to the bathroom area, passengers had left the doors open after using the facilities. I would close the doors to stop them swinging and disturbing the passengers on the bottom level. There was toilet paper and paper towels thrown on the floor and counter area everywhere. I should have reported it to someone, but did not. The situation never improved the whole trip. People are such pigs, and sure they do not treat their house like they did on this train.

 

[flitcraft]

The problem is, it only takes one person to leave the bathroom messy, and as a result, others who follow feel like they can, too. I appreciate the attempts by Amtrak staff to remind riders to keep the bathrooms tidy.

This reminds me of when the Singapore Straits Times ran a column "toilets of shame' with photos of public bathroom users who left them a mess. Maybe public shaming is what's called for here...well, in my dreams, at least!

 

[ptf18]

Just return home, riding Coach, on the Texas Eagle. If if wasn't for the short trip we took on the TE there is no way in Hades that I would ride in Coach ( we have always payed for sleeper accommodations of some sort). The coach car we were in was filthy...and it wasn't filth from JUST one trip..... it was filth from years of not being "deep" cleaned.

BUT.... the customers.... some.... are PIGS. No class, no attempt to have class, and never will have class. And no doubt the Amtrak employees having to deal with these PIGS are "frustrated" by their "behavior".

Sign of the times of "western culture". When having your pants pulled down to the middle of your "backside" is considered "execptable" by the Hollywood types and thus "spinning off" to mainstreet USA no wonder We, not only Amtrak, is in the condition We find ourselves see around us.

 

[MARC Rider]

What a shame that the Star has deteriorated in this respect. Around 2012 I rode coach to Tampa, and the restrooms were sparking clean the whole way. It might have helped that they had an attendant's log posted on the door with a time and initials of ach clean, which appeared to have been done every couple of hours. Of course, one slob can mess things up pretty badly in between cleanings.

 

[Oreius]

I always thought the Coaches had an Attendant or 2 that would be tasked with keeping the bathrooms stocked and clean.

 

[dunktender]

In the last ten years I have never been on a long distance train with clean restrooms. This includes when initially leaving terminus. Restroom smell permeates the coaches and they are in various states of disrepair. They don't seem to be designed for normal repair so they are ignored.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

I always thought the Coaches had an Attendant or 2 that would be tasked with keeping the bathrooms stocked and clean.

They may be tasked with cleaning coach restrooms but it's been a long time since I've seen them actually do it. Usually they just ignore the mess or lock the door. Apparently there's no actionable regulation that requires public restrooms to be clean and functional.

In the last ten years I have never been on a long distance train with clean restrooms. This includes when initially leaving terminus.

It's not just the trains. At my home station the public toilets are left in a truly disgusting state from open to close.

 

[Everydaymatters]

The only time I have seen a TA clean the bathroom in coach was when a toilet was overflowing. For years I rode in coach, and then years in sleepers. I am rarely able to travel now and when I do, I am in coach. The sink is always wet. I have found that after I clean up the sink area, other passengers are more likely to clean up after themselves.
When I first began posting on this forum I started a thread about the condition of the coach bathrooms. I remember that I got a whopping 67 replies! That was a few years ago.

 

[Rasputin]

The Amtrak service manual sets out the responsibility for cleaning restrooms and the upper level of the Sightseer lounge car. I have rarely seen cleaning done so it seems to be an aspirational document.

On the other hand, on my infrequent trips on an Acela between Boston and DC, I usually see an employee clean the restrooms en route at least once if not twice per trip. It is humanly possible.

 

[susanlindsey]

Just ordered a box of plastic gloves to take along with me in coach on April LD routes.

 

[Steve's Wanderlust]

My experience with Amtrak restrooms in both classes (somewhat moreso with coach) is as random as any public restroom. Whether you get enough ignorant/uncaring pax consuming/passing an objectionable amount of waste before/during the trip matters. Whether the staff has the alloted amount of time in their routine to service restrooms vs. other pax issues & the staff's own state of mind/capacity to serve matters. Mechanical chaos matters.

The most anyone can do is not to make the situation worse and remain peacefully cooperative within the imperfect community any train becomes over X amount of hours. The presence of air freshener spray seems to go a long way towards the positive.

 

[b243923]

The coach attendant greets you when you get on the train and you never see them in the coach until it is time to depart. They work in the dining car or bar or other duties.

 

[trampy]

Maybe I got lucky, but riding 6 LD routes end to end and part of 2 others last month there were only a couple of rides with really trashed restrooms in coach. One route (pretty sure it was SWC) the attendant cleaned and restocked the restrooms 6 or more times on the trip, and announced each time, thanking everyone for their help keeping things clean. The positive reinforcement seemed to help.

 

[Bob Dylan]

I always thought the Coaches had an Attendant or 2 that would be tasked with keeping the bathrooms stocked and clean.

Most times the Coach Attendants are" Missing in Action."

Best place to find them is in the Diner/Cafe Car @ "Their Tables" or in their Rooms!

 

[Maglev]

I work at a restaurant, and am assigned the duty of cleaning the bathroom in the morning and monitoring it through the day. I take pride in a clean bathroom.

I recall two notable instances of employees on Amtrak cleaning the bathrooms. One was the Talgo technician on a Cascades train, who refilled the paper towels; and the other was a SCA on the Empire Builder, who actually used a toilet brush (I have never seen anyone else on Amtrak with this essential tool).

Other than that, the bathrooms in sleepers as well as coaches can get disgusting. Even the private toilet bowl in a Bedroom could use a scrubbing during a one to three night trip.

I have seen very few Amtrak employees take pride in clean bathrooms. When I see an attendant at an airport monitoring the cleanliness of a bathroom, I'll give him a tip. He has improved my travel experience.

 

[Oreius]

They do have signs in the Coach bathrooms that say “Please be considerate of the next passenger and clean up. This is YOUR restroom. Please help keep it clean!”

And also “Do not throw trash in toilet!”

 

[pennyk]

I ride the Silvers more than any other train since I live in Florida. Over 20 years ago, I traveled from Winter Park to Hollywood on the Silver Meteor in coach and experience the worst restroom I had ever seen. I blamed it on the fact that the train originated in NY and that it had not been cleaned enough in the many hours the train had been traveling. My return coach trip was much better.

However, after that experience, I generally travel in a roomette for short distances. Back then, the upcharge was not so bad and meals were included.

For about 5 years, I was on the Amtrak Customer Advisory Committee, and for every trip I took, I was responsible for filing a trip report. One of the questions I was asked was about the cleanliness of the restrooms. So, even when traveling in a roomette (or bedroom) with my own toilet, I would walk to coach and examine the restrooms. I think half the time they were OK, the other half, not so much. I reported when I saw coach attendants cleaning the restrooms, which happened fairly regularly for some coach attendants. One coach attendant, in particular, was excellent at cleaning the restrooms. She is now a sleeping car attendant and is excellent in that position.

 

[Oreius]

I work at a restaurant, and am assigned the duty of cleaning the bathroom in the morning and monitoring it through the day. I take pride in a clean bathroom.

I recall two notable instances of employees on Amtrak cleaning the bathrooms. One was the Talgo technician on a Cascades train, who refilled the paper towels; and the other was a SCA on the Empire Builder, who actually used a toilet brush (I have never seen anyone else on Amtrak with this essential tool).

Other than that, the bathrooms in sleepers as well as coaches can get disgusting. Even the private toilet bowl in a Bedroom could use a scrubbing during a one to three night trip.

I have seen very few Amtrak employees take pride in clean bathrooms. When I see an attendant at an airport monitoring the cleanliness of a bathroom, I'll give him a tip. He has improved my travel experience.

When I travel in a Bedroom, I always take a pack of Clorox wipes with me just in case I “miss the mark.”

I try to avoid using public toilets in airports and big-city train stations whenever possible. When I would ride the Keystones to NYP to visit my cousin, I’d wait until I was on the train to go potty!

 

[cirdan]

And also “Do not throw trash in toilet!”

I also think that many people do not appreciate the difference between conventional toilets as you would have at home with relatively large diamater and free-flowing connections, and chemical toilets on trains. This means that many things you can flush away at home without any difficulty should better not be flushed away on a train. Including discarded food or sanitary articles.

It's odd though that airlines have the same problem, yet mostly manage to have reasonably clean and functioning toilets.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Considering that sleeper toilets are much better maintained it seems that Amtrak staff ignore the cleanliness of restrooms in coach cars, train stations, and Thruway buses in part due to a lack of a monetary reward (tipping) for doing the job assigned to them. Amtrak staff can use sleeper toilets and staff-reserved toilets (such as in the SSL) so a disgusting coach toilet has no direct impact on them.

This reminds me of when the Singapore Straits Times ran a column "toilets of shame' with photos of public bathroom users who left them a mess. Maybe public shaming is what's called for here...well, in my dreams, at least!

The cleanest shared restrooms I've seen were in Japan. This seems to come from instilling a sense of respect toward shared facilities, expecting everyone to clean up after themselves without hesitation, and taking pride in the performance of menial tasks.

 

[MARC Rider]

I also think that many people do not appreciate the difference between conventional toilets as you would have at home with relatively large diamater and free-flowing connections, and chemical toilets on trains. This means that many things you can flush away at home without any difficulty should better not be flushed away on a train. Including discarded food or sanitary articles.

Actually, even at home one cannot flush down most items other than what the toilet is designed for. This includes so-called "flushable wipes," which clogged my sewer line and resulted in a plumber's bill of several hundred dollars back when several hundred dollars was real money. Even the grindings from a garbage dispos-all can clog your pipes if you send too much down the drain, at least that's what my-brother-the-plumber says.

 

[Just-Thinking-51]

Amtrak staff can use sleeper toilets and staff-reserved toilets (such as in the SSL) so a disgusting coach toilet has no direct impact on them.

The SSL restroom is a public use toilet. It’s also a accessible restroom. Very few times I have seen it open for public use, but it is not a private staff bathroom. No matter what sign they have on it. Staff only, or out of service.

 

[PVD]

On the NEC, with the exception of Acela first class, since there are no attendants, they use enroute cleaners, that generally works well. There specific job is collecting waste and checking the restrooms. But even a clean room can be reduced very quickly to a pigsty by moron riders.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Actually, even at home one cannot flush down most items other than what the toilet is designed for. This includes so-called "flushable wipes," which clogged my sewer line and resulted in a plumber's bill of several hundred dollars back when several hundred dollars was real money. Even the grindings from a garbage dispos-all can clog your pipes if you send too much down the drain, at least that's what my-brother-the-plumber says.

Was it your Brother who charged you the "several hundred dollars"?