A multimillion-dollar upgrade of a train station in Melbourne’s outer east offers new lifts, stairs, upgraded paths and hundreds of car parking spaces, but no toilets.
The Ringwood East station is currently being upgraded and will include new amenities such as lighting, stairs and lifts. But it will not feature a single public toilet.
But Public Transports Users Association spokesman Daniel Bowen said the state government could have easily added toilets to the Ringwood East station development given the huge cost taxpayers are slugged for railway projects. Derlie Mateo-Babiano, as associate professor in urban planning at the University of Melbourne, said public toilets at train stations were particularly critical for women, mothers, people with disabilities and those with chronic health problems.“A public toilet is our human right and I think it’s critical we have this basic service, particularly when we are talking about public transport,” Mateo-Babiano said.
Bowen said fewer public toilets had been installed at train stations since the 1990s because network operators had reduced the number of onsite staff. In 2022, the state government spent almost $2 million in accessibility upgrades at Heathmont station as part of a $24 million plan to improve facilities for passengers at 16 stations across the state.
Currently, the government only provides toilets at stations which are staffed from first train to last.
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