This Big Brother malarkey is getting out of hand, satellites are being used to stop people flushing toilets maybe a forerunner to restrict household water usage during droughts.
Scotland’s main train operator ScotRail is using satellite technology to prevent passengers flushing train toilets in stations on the world’s most scenic line.
The UK-first technology has been successfully trialled on the West Highland lines between Glasgow, Oban and Mallaig to stop toilet waste being emptied onto tracks beside platforms.
The system uses GPS technology to pre-programme the co-ordinates of stations, to enable the toilet flushing mechanism to be temporarily disabled until the train has departed. I wonder how many ‘khasi’ users will stand in stations trying to flush the toilet before they realise it’s not going to flush.
ScotRail said its 48-strong fleet of class-156 diesel trains would be fitted with the new equipment by November, which will also cover other stations on which they operate, such as around Glasgow and in south west Scotland.
For train anoraks
ScotRail has previously fitted retention tanks to all 48 trains in its class-158 fleet, which operate on routes such as those between Inverness and Aberdeen, Kyle of Lochalsh, Wick and Thurso.
All trains built since about 1990 have tanks and do not discharge onto the track, but the class-156s were made between 1987 and 1989. They are expected to have a 30-year lifespan.
However, some other trains that operate in Scotland also have toilets that still flush onto tracks, such as East Coast’s services between London, Aberdeen and Inverness.
PERCY WELLER 