Fury as trains ‘upgraded' at cost of £1billion have NO toilets on board in move slammed as ‘absolute madness'
The electric tram-trains will be brought in as part of 'improvements' in South Wales.
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But one passenger said it was 'absolute madness' that the carriages will be without loos.
Rail staff admitted they were 'dreading' the likely problems with the elderly, children, disabled people and drunks.
The Welsh Labour government says the new South Wales Metro project will 'provide better transport options'.
Passengers needing the loo will have to get off at a station.
One commuter said it was 'absolute madness', adding: 'We certainly are going backwards in Wales!'
Another added: 'No public toilets at the vast majority of stations either.
'I regularly travel from Cardiff to Merthyr and also Aberdare. Both big towns and not a toilet in sight.'
One shocked commenter added: 'I have a funny feeling there's going to be lots of urine on the floor on a Friday and Saturday night.'
Transport for Wales said on-board toilets would 'significantly reduce capacity' and that passengers would always be within a 20-minute journey of a loo.
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Daily Mail
16 hours ago
- Daily Mail
F*** your second homes! Welsh village where English hating locals are revolting over 300 PER CENT council tax hikes on Airbnbs
The park by Llyn Padarn, the stunning lake at the foot of Snowdon, is full to overflowing as the late afternoon sun shimmers off the water and the mountains beyond. Tourists from all over the world flock to the resort of Llanberis to marvel at its natural beauty, and most enjoy the holiday of a lifetime. But scratch the surface and that famous welcome in the hillsides might be wearing a little thin. Dotted around the park on the back of parking ticket machines and signs are stickers bearing sinister messages for the tourists, clearly intended to send them packing. One, which has appeared only recently, rekindles the cottage-burning Welsh nationalist terrorist campaign of Meibion Glyndwr (sons of Glyndwr) in the 80s and early 90s, shows a blazing house with the blunt message: 'F*** your second home'. Another shows an Airbnb logo with a noose around it, proclaiming 'Death to Airbnb'. There are many tell-tale patches where other stickers have been removed, but, like the tourists they profess to hate, the vile messages keep coming back. Others say: Nid yw Cymru ar Werth or 'Wales is not for sale' And in Conwy Valley, someone daubed on a road last month: 'F*** off, Saeson' (the Welsh word for the English). No-one admits putting these messages up, but plenty of people tacitly agree with the sentiments behind them, mainly, they say, because of the unaffordability of local homes because of the burgeoning rental market. And the policy-makers at Gwynedd Council in Caernarvon have taken the protests to heart, it seems, imposing punitive taxes on those who provide accommodation for the tourists or own second homes in rural Wales. Owners of holiday lets and Airbnbs have been hit by huge council tax demands as the Welsh government tries to make having a second home there less attractive. In a decision aimed at driving out second homeowners, they have introduced a rule that owners whose properties are occupied (whether by themselves or paying guests) for fewer than 182 days have to pay council tax of up to 300%. Holiday let owners, who rent their properties for more than the 182-day threshold, are subjected to business rates, which is lower than the punitive rates of council tax. But in a further kick in the teeth to second homeowners, and those running holiday lets, the rules have been backdated to the previous year, meaning forcing them to pay even higher premiums backdated from 12 months earlier. Many owners were caught off guard because they assumed the rules would only apply going forward. Opponents claim the council tax clampdown on second homes and holiday lets has fuelled the hate campaign against English owners. Campaigner Glenis Bisson, 76, said: 'Without a doubt, there is a growing anti-English feeling because of the housing situation. 'On internet forums, the Welsh nationalists are extremely abusive to people who are English. 'Welsh nationalism is on the rise. They are angry and feel that the English are selling to the English. 'They thought that these council tax and Article 4 measures would suddenly allow them to buy cheap housing but it's nonsense. 'They whole thing has backfired.' The mother-of-four added: 'There have been posters being put up around a few months back with houses on fire in Pwllheli. 'They were using the same emblem that was used for the as they did for the Free Wales Army back in the 1980s. 'They were put on all the lampposts in Pwllheli and wherever they could stick them. 'It is just the attitude of the nationalists that is hardening not the normal Welsh people. 'A lot of them are angry and horrified by all this. There is a lot of stress around the housing situation.' 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