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Opinion

You’re being misled about toilets on Welsh trains

By Mark Mansfield
One of the new Transport for Wales tram trains

Owen Williams

The way governments and public bodies use language really matters. It’s not just about naming things. It’s about helping people understand what’s happening, and making sure the facts are clear and easy to grasp.

When that doesn’t happen, people get confused. And when people get confused, they get angry.

That’s exactly what we saw this week. A post from Jeremy Vine On 5 claimed that Wales’ billion-pound rail upgrade wouldn’t include toilets on the trains.

The post quickly took off, with hundreds of comments accusing the Welsh Government of incompetence, idiocy, and worse. “This is what happens when morons get elected,” one Facebook user fumed. “A third-world service.” “Another embarrassing decision by the idiotic government.” “Of course people need facilities – I can’t believe this!”

But the claim wasn’t true. All trains in Wales still have toilets. That hasn’t changed. The only vehicles that won’t are the new trams being introduced as part of the South Wales Metro network: short, fast, electric services that are more like a cross between London Underground and Manchester Metrolink than a traditional train.

And like the Tube and Metrolink, they don’t have toilets because journeys are short, and space is limited.

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Confusion

So where did the confusion come from? Mostly, from one phrase: “tram-trains.” That’s how Transport for Wales and the Welsh Government have described these soon-to-be-introduced vehicles for years.

It’s a technical term, used in transport planning to describe a hybrid system that can run on both tramlines and train tracks. But to most people, it’s just confusing. It suggests a train. And if a train has no toilet, people assume the same goes for all trains. And that’s how you end up with a flood of outrage and headlines that damage public trust.

This might seem like a minor branding problem. It isn’t. Because the anger it stirs up doesn’t stay contained. It gets picked up, passed around and folded into a bigger story: that Welsh public services are failing, that devolution doesn’t work, that things were better before.

Those are the stories that gain traction when communication is vague or unclear.

Bad-faith actors don’t need much to go on - just a phrase, a post or a headline that can be taken the wrong way.

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Ammunition

If public bodies don’t take language seriously, they’re effectively handing them ammunition. Simplicity isn’t the enemy of detail. It’s what allows detail to land.

When public bodies use clear, everyday language, they’re not patronising anyone. They’re respecting people’s time, their attention and their right to understand what is being done in their name.

Plain-speaking is a public service in itself. Too often, official messaging gets tangled in jargon, acronyms or branding language that may make sense internally, but falls flat in the real world.

Communication shouldn’t feel like a puzzle. If a sentence needs unpacking, re-reading or deep background knowledge to make sense, it’s failed, and it’ll continue to fail.

The goal isn’t to sound clever. The goal is to be understood. Wales has made good progress in this area, especially through Cymraeg Clir and the push for clearer bilingual communications.

But the principle applies to English just as much. Whether it’s signage, policy announcements or everyday updates, clarity must come before branding. Trust relies on it.

Public trust

Wales is a small country. Public trust is hard-earned and easily lost.

If we want people to believe in our services, in the institutions that run them, and in the principle of devolution itself, then we have to be better at explaining what we’re doing and why we’re doing it.

Clarity isn’t a luxury. It’s the foundation of trust. If we want to defend public services from cheap shots and bad-faith attacks, we need to speak plainly. Call a spade a spade. And a tram a tram.

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28 comments

John Brooks

Sorry, anyone who confuses tramtrain with train is an idiot or disingenuous.

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Bilbo

Perhaps Jeremy has been knocked off his bike too many times. It's surprising to see him spread malicious disinformation.

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Amir

When I lived in London, I didn't hear any dissent about the lack of toilets on the tube. It seems to be an issue to blow everything out of proportion. For those travelling on these trams, all I can say that I will envy you for several years. We won't be getting our Cardiff parkway station. The developer can build on 3/5ths of the land. That is more than he will ever need.

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Hal

Dishonesty sells. The people love it. When things are actually ok they need fake news to get their daily dose of outrage.

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John Ellis

It's not really a phenomenon, but it's one which the advent of social media has hugely encouraged and facilitated.

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Hal

The Daily Mail existed well before social media. For decades nothing else came close to delivering that much needed shudder of rage over breakfast each day.

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In reply to Hal

John Ellis

True. But in my young days the reach of the 'Mail' - and indeed of the 'Express' and of other British right-wing tabloids - wasn't anything like as far-reaching as that of the plethora of social media websites these days. Nor was it as easy to register an opinion.

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In reply to John Ellis

Hal

It wasn't as far reaching but it didn't need to be because only the views of the ruling and middle classes mattered. The rest doffed their hat and did what they were told. And back then, the Mail thought this was the answer, so has anything really changed?

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In reply to Hal

John Ellis

Fair point - certainly the 'Mail' hasn't fundamentally changed, as you've demonstrated. But when I was a kid back in the '50s, my sense was that only a minority of people - at least where I grew up - took the 'Mail'. Whereas now vast numbers subscribe to social media sites such as 'x'.

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In reply to John Ellis

Hal

They've expanded their distinct brand of faux morality and irreverent inhumanity to new feeble-minded audiences. There website is now a top ten global "news" website.

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In reply to Hal

John Ellis

'Their website is now a top ten global “news” website.' I didn't know that. Truly depressing!

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Mab Meirion

Trains and Boats and Planes, Trams and Charabancs, surely you want the Metro Barges that run down Churchill St, the ones that deliver the garbage out into the bay...That's Chelsea on Thames, my mistake...

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Mab Meirion

As you can't get a cup of tea between here and the border why would they need loos...!

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Glwyo

This article has omitted that the current trains serving the TAM lines do have toilets, so to many the move to tram-trains feels like a downgrade of the service (and for those who have come to rely on their existence it is a downgrade). I accept the counterarguments: London Underground and buses don't have toilets, etc etc and sure this wouldn't be much of a problem if public toilets were widespread and well maintained, but it strikes me that an aspect in which public transport is a better option than driving is being given away at a time when model shift has never been more important. Also, TfW operates a handful of class 230 trains in the north east - trains that are adapted London Underground vehicles with, yes, toilets retrofitted.

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Matthew

You're right that it wouldn't be much of a problem if public toilets were widespread and well maintained, and that's the issue which actually needs to be solved. Councils closed them across the board over the last 10-15 years because budgets were tight. There's plenty of people to cry out about what elderly, disabled and parents of children are supposed to do when they travel due to this change, but where were these people when their town's public toilets were closed and those people can't even go into their town centres any more, let alone go to another one on a train?

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John Ellis

I agree with you there. My impression was that councils closed public toilets as a consequence of the twin pressures of constant vandalism and steadily diminishing funding from central government. And because their provision was a power rather than a duty for local authorities, they were an early target in the process of cost-cutting.

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Hal

There's no more of transport where you never have to hold it for twenty minutes or more. Planes lock their toilets out of use for takeoff and landing. Cars might be half an hour away from facilities, especially stuck in traffic on motorways. There's never toilets on local buses or other metro systems, and coaches might have one if it's not broken or occupied by someone taking a strangely long time. Even those towing a caravan with their own facilities have to find somewhere safe to pull over when the need arises. No wonder gen z are sick of the boomer outrage.

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PeteD

I think the author is missing the point that these "trams" - from what I understand - will be running along the valleys lines with journeys of an hour or more, and withouton board toilets. This is going to be excruciating for disabled people, older people, parents travelling with children, and people going home after a night in the pub. I feel sorry for the staff working on those trains to be honest.

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Matt Smith

There are journeys of over an hour on the Tube and Crossrail in London and on the Manchester and Tyne and Wear metro systems. No-one complains about the lack of facilities on those units.

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Daf

They do. But they are disabled, elderly or carers and parents of small children. So you don’t listen, and you don’t care.

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In reply to Daf

Hal

TfL provide a toilet map to help people plan their journey. https://content.tfl.gov.uk/toilets-map.pdf

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In reply to Daf

Mab Meirion

Worst station in Wales for attitude against the disabled...Machynlleth...

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John Ellis

True enough: you can travel on the Metrolink from Bury, north of Manchester, to Altrincham or the airport to the south of that city - journeys a tad less than twenty miles in all - on train/trams with no toilets. I lived in various places outside Manchester for thirty years during the time when the Metrolink was operating and being extended, and I don't recall the absence of toilets on them ever once being raised as an issue.

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Hal

You're missing the point that there will be toilets no more than 20 minutes away and the service pattern should mean you don't wait long for the next one. Many will just jump on any service to Ponty since they all go that way, have their comfort stop there then pick up their intended service a few minutes later.

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Mark Barry

For an objective data driven analysis my 2019 blog pretty much covers it....as Owen says the faux outrage is misplaced and amplified by media channels who care not for the truth and just want clicks https://swalesmetroprof.blog/2019/09/21/toilets-on-tram-trains/

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Jonathan

I’m sorry but this is complete nonsense. These are not trams they are trains, they are still running on the same train lines as before, the journey times are no shorter and they don’t run on tram lines because there aren’t any. I could run my car on the train tracks but it doesn’t make it a train does it. These TRAINS (Not trams) have been a complete disaster from start to finish: they are 3 years late, are not long enough (they need to be at least 4 car, yes I know they can be put together to make a 6 car but that’s not the point) and the lack of toilets will be a huge issue for so many people, especially in the Valleys where people tend to be older and sicker so more likely to need the toilet. Railway workers have already said how much they are dreading these new trains, especially on match days, they will be disgusting. I don’t understand why TFW didn’t just procure more of the class 756s that are running on the Rhymney line; they are 4 cars long, they have toilets and they are very comfortable. Additionally, you would lose about 11 seats by having a toilet, which for me is a good trade off because there will be so many people now being put off or simply can no longer use the trains. Lastly, TFW are putting toilets at 10 stations on the network so you will never be more than 20 minutes away from one. 20 minutes is a long time if you’re busting and what if you’re on the last train of the day, are you supposed to get off then. And breathe, rant over.

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Brad

This topic always seems to default to concerns about elderly and disabled people needing these facilities. Have you ever actually tried to use a toilet on a train travelling at speed? It's just not something a frail person could reasonably attempt. Getting off to use reliable, safe, clean and not lurching around facilities is far preferable. The biggest concern is making sure these station facilities are indeed reliable, safe and clean. And these are tram-trains which means they can operate as trams on light rail tracks allowing them to run down the high street in future, as well as operating as trains on heavy rail lines. The whole point of this is the ability to extend the network in the future in ways that wouldn't be possible if they took your advice and bought more 756s.

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This topic always seems to default to concerns about elderly and disabled people needing these facilities. Have you ever actually tried to use a toilet on a train travelling at speed? It's just not something a frail person could reasonably...

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