Passenger train toilet

In the United States, railway employees were required to lock the toilets closed whenever a passenger train stood in a station or at any other location designated by instructions in the timetable.

In the United States, Amtrak phased out its use of these toilets in the 1980s after waste from a Silver Meteor train crossing the St. Johns River in Florida, between Palatka and DeLand, landed on a fisherman who filed a lawsuit.

Apart from improving hygiene, the phaseout will save Indian Railways 4 billion rupees annually, due to the elimination of corrosion on the rails caused by human waste.

On the occasion that services operate through to Wareham on the South West Main Line, passengers are requested not to use the lavatories when on Network Rail tracks.

Vacuum systems used in the newest carriages are similar to those in airliners: waste is pulled into a holding tank with a high pressure pump.

Their disadvantages are the same as of chemical holding tanks, in addition they require stable power supply for working, and flushing of anything else but water and human waste (e.g. paper towels) can easily break the pump.

[6][7] In the United States, Dvořák's tune "Humoresque Number 7" became the setting for a series of mildly scatological humorous verses,[8] regarding passenger train toilets, beginning:[importance?][relevant?]