Toilet on trains

wolverhampton

My wife is reluctant to travel on trains in India as she is concerned the toilets will not meet western standards,even if you travel via first class tickets--is this the case- are we sol literally.

dzibead

I traveled 1AC on one train when I was in India last year, and it had a Western style (sit on a seat) toilet. In other classes of train, the toilet will be a hole in the floor with places where you put your feet, not the Western style toilet with a seat. You can't necessarily count on having a Western style toilet in your hotel or guesthouse, either. You just have to get over it if you're going to travel in India.

The toilets on trains can certainly get dirty, but realistically, what can you expect? It's not your own private WC. It's used by a lot of people, and they are using it while the train is lurching around. And you don't actually HAVE to touch anything, afterall. It's not clear what your wife considers "western standards." I've been in plenty of crappy (literally and figuratively) toilets in the West. The toilets on the India trains I've been on have been much better than some of the clogged and overflowing horrors I've encountered in the so-called "First World."

wolverhampton

I agree try visiting a gas station in fresno in the summer.However I can pee anywhere and my wife is much more concerned than I am.

Layman

Even if you travel first class, keep the following in mind:
- Do not touch surface of toilet seat with any part of your body. Carry toilet-seat paper covers, if required. Some passengers sqaut on top of the toilet seat, so dirt from their footwear may be on the toilet seat. Or it may be wet.
- The WC drain opens out to the tracks, which is why many Indian stations are smelly (do not use train toilets when the train is at a station).
- Carry your own soap. The newer trains have a liquid soap dispenser esp in AC coaches and FC, but I have found them to be empty (on a journey last week)!
- As far as possible, try to be among the first few users of the train toilet, even if it means getting up early in the morning (if on an overnight journey)! After it has been used by many passengers, it can be quite wet or smelly.
- One out of the four toilets in each train carriage will be 'Western' style. It is generally not preferred by Indian passengers. The other 3 are Indian style squat toilets.

Consider the above points before deciding to travel by train or not.

Wanderer22

A photo is worth a few words.... Carefull you don't loose your wallet down the hole while squatting. There are usually western style ones across the corridor from the squaters.

W22

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vera

Is this your wife's first trip to India?

Nick-H

2AC and 3AC will have Western WCs too: if you don't find one look at the other end of the carriage or in the next carriage. I don't know about the other classes but there are Indian railway buffs here who could probably even tell you whether the seat will be up or down on any particular carriage on any particular train between two specific stations!

But, seriously.... concern that things won't meet up to Western standards is maybe a good reason not to visit India

...And an Indian train is one place I always take a toilet roll just in case.

lyndy

Some very good toilet advice here!

The Indian style toilets were cleaner than the western toilets on our trains.

Try not to spend too much time in them! Do the business & get out! After all, hopefully, it's a small amount of time over the total trip time!

If you get Delhi Belly then bind yourself up with immodium for the train journey & worry about it later. One needs to be resourceful when travelling in India, by train, bus, air or car!

iwanttogoback

definitely - they are small and easy to stuff in your luggage, and you will be so glad you took them. and maybe some small ziploc bags to put the used ones in because quite often you can't flush a toilet or there is no bin.
just take it back to your hotel and use the bin there.

once you have squatted on an indian style toilet whilst suffering from delhi belly on a moving train - you can do anything

wonderwomanusa

On the train, I usually prefer the Indian toilet, especially in the morning. It seems that sitting on the Western seat, a person can fill a water bottle and take a comfortable bath, leaving the entire cubicle wet, including the toilet paper that sometimes is hanging on the wall. Yeccch!

Your wife should sew some velcro bits on her pockets (keeps the eyeglasses and change purse where they belong) and squat ... she'll be amazed at how fast she can do her business and be out of the loo!

jens

True, certainly the state of the toilets might be the least of the worries.

But if those are your sentiments, indian toilets (like the picture) are preferable to Western toilets. One really wants to be as far away from the toilet as possible and squat toilets accomplish that goal quite nicely. I don't happen to come accross Western toilets too much when I'm traveling, I avoid them like the plague. You just need to get your quads somewhat in shape.

Nick-H

Why on earth would anyone do otherwise?

steven_ber

I feel dirty after reading this thread, I carry nothing with me to a toilet on an Indian train and I treat the experience no differently than I would if I were going to the loo at my local pub in London.

My friend had the same worries as wolverhampton, but was pleasantly surprised, though we did stick to 1A, 2A and FC on his visit, he said (and I agree) that they were as good as the toilets on Thai trains.

To get away from the arctic conditions in 1st class air con.

This comment is a reference to a true incident, the same friend I mentioned above went and sat in the loo for long periods to WARM up, he found the air conditioned First Class compartments too cold. (the toilets are not air conditioned)

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lyndy

Nick-H-it was said "tongue-in-cheek". I love to read in the dunny. Catch up with the latest trends, fashions etc. I was advising the OP to tell the missus to "make it snappy", don't just relax & enjoy the view! You men just don't seem to get it!

steven_ber

You just reminded me of an incident I'd totally forgotten about...

I woke up (on a train) one morning at about 6 and went to the toilet, something seemed different, but I was still half asleep and couldn't figure it out.

The train pulled into a station and I suddenly realised what was different, the window in the toilet wasn't the usual darkened window and people could see into the toilet.

I got out of there a lot quicker than usual.