Toilet disaster at ÖBB: Passenger reports of extreme inconvenience

Toilet disaster at ÖBB: Passenger reports of extreme inconvenience

An unpleasant situation awaited the passengers of a ÖBB train on the connection from Villach to Vienna on November 17, 2024. The train is usually well equipped with its four toilet facilities, but that day all toilets were defective. T., a regular passenger, describes that he was never confronted with such a problem beforehand.

at 2:13 p.m. T. joined the D738 in Villach. The train attendant immediately informed the travelers that none of the four toilets radioed. The responsible press spokesman for ÖBB, Herbert Hofer, confirmed that the train was not pulled out of circulation despite the problem. In order to alleviate the inconvenience, longer stays were planned at certain train stations so that passengers could use the station toilets.

delays due to toilet problems

The trip that the ÖBB usually advertised with an average travel time of four and a half hours was not without complications. The first stop in Klagenfurt brought an additional waiting time of ten minutes, and at the next stop in Bruck an der Mur, the passengers stormed out of the train from the need to use the toilet facilities. T. reports on long snakes on the platform, so the train attendant had to act quickly to get the travelers back. This delay caused the train to arrive at the Vienna Central Station with more than half an hour.

ÖBB informs about technical problems

Herbert Hofer regretted the situation and explained that ÖBB transported around 280 million passengers every year and checked around 1,200 toilets every week to ensure their functionality. Despite these measures, short -term technical defects or vandalistic damage to the facilities could occur, which often made early maintenance impossible in advance of the trips.

The current location on the south route between Vienna and Klagenfurt is perceived as inadequate. According to media reports, more modern trains have recently been replaced by less comfortable alternatives after a change in the timetable due to floods has been urgently required. Hofer emphasizes that the current problem is expected to exist until the timetable change in December 2024.

The complaint about defective toilets is not an isolated case. Another incident was also reported in November 2024 on the route from Salzburg to Bischofshofen, where the passengers were faced with similar problems, but without a planned break at the train stations. A 37-year-old man tells a history of misfortune who has urgently had to go to that situation and ultimately had no choice but to get through the circumstances. The ÖBB also had an express apology for this incident.

For further information and developments on the current situation of the ÖBB and its trains, the press remains in conversation with those responsible and remains in other reports, such as www.5min.at informed.