IC 611 from Salzburg to Graz main station becomes IC 601 in Selzthal. One IC is attached to the other one coming from Linz and together the journey continues south bound. Not quite, for because of technical problems with the locomotive our departure will be some minutes delayed.

Well, toilets on trains can be used inside railway stations meanwhile. These toilets are environmentally friendly toilets with closed waste water systems. Nope! Not the one in the last waggon of IC 611. This one still grants a view to the railroad tracks and using it would be no different the pissing on the platform.

So, turn around and go for the toilet on the other end of the waggon, which is one generation newer anyhow. This toilet is out of order, door wide

WC gestört

open, but definitely out of order. OK, walk across another waggon and there it is, the ready to be used and not occupied toilet including the above mentioned closed waster water system which is greeting me by squirting water into the hand wash basin. I’ve been to the Gollinger Waterfall yesterday, so not impressed.

Getting up from the toilet seat I trigger the faucet again; this time I do want to wash my hands. Now the hand dryer starts to blow; I prefer paper. As a courtesy I wipe the drops (water, it was definitely water!) that one to n (and I don’t want to think about how great n in this case is) toilet users before me left behind and/or overlooked off the floor.

After fighting my way back through various automatic doors (has no one at ÖBB ever heard of Douglas Adams' Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy?) without getting hurt I am sitting at my spot finishing this article (that cannot publish before getting home since there is no WIFI on IC 601). I have plenty of time too since we had another technical failure. That results in (so far) 25 minutes delay and missed connections for the travelers not going to Graz. As long as we arrive before the supermarket at the shopping mall (formerly known as railway station) closes, right?

Written on said train on Monday, May 21st 2018