The stations raking it in from us spending a penny.
Spending a penny at one of Britain's busiest railway stations is generating millions of pounds, according to new figures released by Network Rail, with the toilets at London’s Victoria station raking in £2.3 million over three years alone.
Britain’s most profitable station toilets
Here are the top 13 station toilets in terms of revenue and what it costs to use them.
|
|
Train Station |
Charge per use |
Revenue over three years |
|
1. |
London Victoria |
50p |
£2,300,511 |
|
2. |
London Euston |
30p |
£1,828,110 |
|
3. |
London Kings Cross |
30p |
£1,394,795 |
|
4. |
London Paddington |
30p |
£1,172,740 |
|
5. |
Manchester Piccadilly |
30p |
£1,115,677 |
|
6. |
London Liverpool St |
30p |
£1,007,414 |
|
7. |
Edinburgh Waverley |
30p |
£752,194 |
|
8. |
Birmingham New Street |
30p |
£702,533 |
|
9. |
London Charing Cross |
30p |
£653,721 |
|
10. |
Glasgow Central |
40p |
£601,478 |
|
11. |
Leeds |
40p |
£544,976 |
|
12. |
Liverpool Lime Street |
30p |
£402,680 |
|
13. |
London Bridge |
30p |
£358,658 |
Victoria is the most expensive station at 50p per use, which perhaps explains its position at the top of the table.
Firm defends charges
[SPOTLIGHT]“Network Rail operates the biggest and busiest stations in Britain,” said a spokesperson. “Toilet facilities are available at all these stations and are open to everyone, not just rail users.
“The small charge we make for using the public toilet facilities in our stations helps to maintain them, ensures they are fully staffed and prevents misuse such as vandalism and other anti-social behaviour. Any profit from station toilets is reinvested in the railway and passenger facilities.”
But it appears huge chunks of the money made from station toilets is being taken as profit. Figures for Liverpool Lime Street show that only £41,403 was spent on staffing the toilet and £10,494 on ‘consumables’ such as toilet paper and soap in 2013/14. With total revenue for that period standing at £129,998 that means almost £80,000 was banked as profit.
It's worth bearing in mind that most longer-distance trains have toilets on board, so it's much cheaper to hold on until you've passed through the ticket barrier.
For top tips on paying less for rail travel, have a read of our guide How to cut the cost of rail and coach travel.
Do you ever pay to use station toilets? Or do you refuse on cost grounds? Let us know in the Comments section below.
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Cut the cost of your travel:
How to cut the cost of rail and coach travel