The lack of working toilets in the trains forces them to stop en route for unplanned loo breaks

Many rail passengers have already started calling it the “pipi train” [‘wee-wee train’]…” Here is a rather funny story about the Media Distancia, a train which travelled yesterday from Malaga to Seville.

On Monday morning, 6th October at 9.05am the story began. The train left María Zambrano station in Malaga city centre and, shortly afterwards, a train crew member passed through all carriages announcing that the train they were travelling in was experiencing “a problem with the toilets, which are unusable”, according to one of the passengers recounting the incident to SUR.

Renfe chose to make two unscheduled, extra stops, rather than cancel the trip, which would have left many passengers stranded. This was done to accommodate those who wanted to stop at intermediate stations on the route in order to use the toilets. This first stop, which was originally supposed to be Bobadilla was actually made earlier at Antequera’s Santa Ana Station, due to “physiological needs”.

The same rail passenger said, “The stops made passengers rush because they feared being stuck at these stops due to the long queues for services.”

Delayed

The delay was caused by the additional waiting at the stations. The train driver informed the passengers that they would have to stop at Osuna because the Seville to Malaga trains travelling in the other direction would be passing them at the crossing. They encouraged passengers at that time to use the facilities in Osuna because the estimated delay was 30 minutes. A passenger asked and was told she could leave, but that she should hurry up. The same passenger from Malaga said, “It was a farce”. The ‘pipitrens’ finally arrived in Seville after a delay of about 50 minutes, according to this passenger.

Renfe’s spokesperson said that the 9.05am Malaga to Seville Media Distancia arrived at its destination 1.18pm yesterday, 44 minutes behind schedule, due to a temporary malfunction that affected all of the train’s toilets.

This is why the operator “enabled longer stops at stations, such as Osuna y Antequera” so that the passengers could use the toilets. Renfe informed passengers and apologized for the incident. Renfe announced that an emergency maintenance team was already on site to fix the issue as quickly as possible.

The train did complete the journey, even though it was delayed. The Media Distancia service between the two main provincial capitals of Andalucía is one of the lines with the highest cancellation rates, generally due to a lack of available rolling stock or train drivers.