'Pee bags' on trains upset Dutch commuters

Commuters and train drivers alike are against the idea of 'pee bags'. Photo / Thinkstock

Dutch National Railways will offer "pee-bags" as emergency toilets on short journeys.

"From today plastic bags will be made available on trains to be handed out to passengers in case of extreme emergencies," said NS spokesman Eric Trinthamer, including when trains were stranded.

If passengers were caught short, the train's driver or conductor would hand out the bags and passengers could use the unoccupied driver's cabin at the back of the train.

The bag is attached to a spout and filled with a powdered substance that turns into a gel and passengers would leave it behind or throw it away.

But passengers interviewed on television were dismayed by the idea, especially women.

"Are you serious? No, no way, I just can't see myself doing 'it' in that," said one unnamed female passenger.

"For a man it may be easier, for a woman that's just impossible," she said.

Dutch train drivers also reacted with fury, saying they were revolted by the idea of their work space being turned into a lavatory.

"When I first heard about it, I thought it was a joke," Wim Eilert of the country's driver's union said. "It's distasteful."

- AAP