Intercity 266 was said to stop for toilet breaks along the way.
From a Lapland holiday returning to his home in the capital region Niko Tamminen the train journey took an unpleasant turn late on Tuesday evening.
The Intercity 266 train that left Rovaniemi was late from the start. However, the real problems started a little before Kemi.
The train conductor announced that all the toilets on the train were out of order. The reason was said to be freezing of the train's pipes. VR later confirmed the same in its announcement and also said that the train's showers were out of order.
“The pipes were already said to be frozen. Previously, however, some of the toilets were apparently in operation,” Tamminen tells HS by phone.
“In itself, it is human that something like this happens during severe frosts. Now we have to take slightly longer toilet breaks at intermediate stations.”
All toilets on the train are out of use.
I'm on the phone time, i.e. around 9:30 in the evening, Intercity 266 had just stopped for a toilet break in Kemi. The fifteen-minute break had already stretched over half an hour, Tamminen says.
Toilet breaks were planned next in Oulu, Seinäjoki and Tampere.
Tamminen said that the train is probably quite full because of the holiday season, and there are plenty of languages other than Finnish as well. So far, however, there had been no sounds of gravel from the passengers, but people have taken the situation calmly.
“We just joked that the train toilet didn't work like a train toilet,” laughs Tamminen.
The announcement that VR has promised to refund the tickets for all passengers could also have helped the passengers' calm state of mind.
“I hope everyone gets what they need,” says Tamminen.
Later, VR announced that in addition to one-way tickets, passengers will be reimbursed for accommodation costs and new tickets for the morning train. According to the company, passengers in Oulu were offered the opportunity to stay overnight in the city.
Hard according to VR, the cold weather has hampered train traffic throughout the country.
VR's before bulletin according to the most typical delays have been 15–45 minutes in long-distance traffic and less than 15 minutes in VR local traffic.
Individual trains have also had to be canceled due to equipment faults.
Intercity 266 was expected on Tuesday evening in Oulu. “The toilets on the train are frozen because of the frost”, warned the information board at the station.
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