'Wee Bags' Solve 'Got-to-Go' Problem on Dutch Trains

BY JULIA CORDEROY


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What do you do when you need to go on a train that doesn’t have a bathroom? Use a “wee bag.” Dutch National Railways has introduced “wee bags” as an alternative on their short-hop trains.

The bags have a cup-shaped plastic top and contain a highly absorbent material that turns urine into a gel-like mixture. Once your wee-bag has turned into something resembling a stress-relief ball, it can be sealed and tossed in the garbage. (Youtube)


A spokesperson for the Dutch National Railways told BBC the “wee bags” are for emergency use only...

"When you have to wait three or four hours on a train, then it is quite logical you have some people aboard who need to go to a restroom."

Some 16% of Dutch trains DON’T have proper toilets. As for the new alternative -- railway passengers and Dutch train drivers are, excuse the pun, “pissed.” The International Business Times quotes one commuter who told a Dutch morning news program.

"Are you serious? No, no way, I just can't see myself doing 'it' in that... For a man it may be easier, for a woman that's just impossible.”

Passengers can get the “wee bags” from the conductor and use the unoccupied driver's cabin at the back of the train.

Expatica quotes one train driver who told a Dutch newspaper he isn’t happy about his workplace being turned into a lavatory of this kind.

"When I first heard about it, I thought it was a joke... To let people pee where somebody else needs to work, that will not do. It's distasteful.”

According to CBC News, the Dutch Transport Minister says installing proper toilets on trains would be too expensive, costing more than $125 million.


Transcript by Newsy.

1. By: newsydotcom
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4. Added :11-Oct-11
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