Does London Bridge have waiting rooms, preferably heated?
http://www.nationalrail.co.uk say there are waiting rooms 'available'
and 'located on the platforms 1 and 2'. It also says it has a
'Women-Only Waiting Room' on 'Platforms 1 and 2; Platforms 3 and 4.'

Now I'm looking the station map on the site and seeing pictures of seats
on the platforms but no waiting rooms...

E.

On Nov 28, 9:40*pm, eastender wrote:
Does London Bridge have waiting rooms, preferably heated?http://www.nationalrail.co.uksay there are waiting rooms 'available'
and 'located on the platforms 1 and 2'. It also says it has a
'Women-Only Waiting Room' on 'Platforms 1 and 2; Platforms 3 and 4.'

Now I'm looking the station map on the site and seeing pictures of seats
on the platforms but no waiting rooms...

E.

Blimey; I'm there quite a lot, but I've never noticed any. I wonder
if they are referring to the few seats in the little café? That's not
to say that there might be something behind inoccuous doorways if one
asked.

In article
,
MIG wrote:


Blimey; I'm there quite a lot, but I've never noticed any. I wonder
if they are referring to the few seats in the little café? That's not
to say that there might be something behind inoccuous doorways if one
asked.

I ask because I dropped my son off there earlier 20 mins early and said
there's bound to be a warm waiting room in such a big station...

E.

In message , at
22:02:33 on Sun, 28 Nov 2010, eastender remarked:
Blimey; I'm there quite a lot, but I've never noticed any. I wonder
if they are referring to the few seats in the little café? That's not
to say that there might be something behind inoccuous doorways if one
asked.

I ask because I dropped my son off there earlier 20 mins early and said
there's bound to be a warm waiting room in such a big station...

There are small cafes on the through platforms, and the main concourse
(terminating platforms) should be sheltered, if not actually in
possession of a waiting room.
--
Roland Perry

In article ,
eastender wrote:
Does London Bridge have waiting rooms, preferably heated?
http://www.nationalrail.co.uk say there are waiting rooms 'available'
and 'located on the platforms 1 and 2'. It also says it has a
'Women-Only Waiting Room' on 'Platforms 1 and 2; Platforms 3 and 4.'

What a bizarre notion. How is it enforced? Doesn't the waiting room
provision on platforms 3 & 4 breach the sex discrimination act?

-roy

In message , at 22:37:47 on Sun, 28
Nov 2010, Roy Badami remarked:
It also says it has a
'Women-Only Waiting Room' on 'Platforms 1 and 2; Platforms 3 and 4.'

What a bizarre notion. How is it enforced? Doesn't the waiting room
provision on platforms 3 & 4 breach the sex discrimination act?

It's a long standing tradition on the railways - I'm utterly astonished
you didn't know that. As for sex discrimination, is it against the law
to purport to stop a man using the Ladies toilet, and how is that
enforced?
--
Roland Perry

In article ,
Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 22:37:47 on Sun, 28
It's a long standing tradition on the railways - I'm utterly astonished
you didn't know that.

I'm genuinely surprised - I've never noticed such a facility at any
station I use.

Assuming that it's supposed to be safer for women travelling alone, or
something like that, then I don't see how that's actually going to
work in practice without staff to enforce it -- in which case it's
actually the presence of staff that makes the platform safer, and not
the single sex waiting room.

As for sex discrimination, is it against the law to purport to stop
a man using the Ladies toilet, and how is that enforced?

Well, they'd normally provide a gents toilet as well. If there was a
men-only waiting room provided in addition to a women-only waiting
room, that would be another matter.

-roy

In article ,
Roland Perry wrote:

There are small cafes on the through platforms, and the main concourse
(terminating platforms) should be sheltered, if not actually in
possession of a waiting room.

So the info on http://www.nationalrail.co.uk is wrong - there are no
waiting rooms at London Bridge, least of all women only ones. However,
it does use the word 'available' - which suggests there may be a locked
room somewhere that can be opened on request?

E.

In message ,
eastender writes

So the info on http://www.nationalrail.co.uk is wrong - there are no
waiting rooms at London Bridge, least of all women only ones. However,
it does use the word 'available' - which suggests there may be a locked
room somewhere that can be opened on request?

According to the NR station plan for London Bridge, the women's toilets
on platform 2 also contain a "seating area". Doesn't sound an ideal
place for waiting, though!
--
Paul Terry

In message , at 09:41:43 on Mon, 29
Nov 2010, Roy Badami remarked:

It's a long standing tradition on the railways - I'm utterly astonished
you didn't know that.

I'm genuinely surprised - I've never noticed such a facility at any
station I use.

It was more common in the past - often (as another posting about London
Bridge suggests) a small "Ladies Waiting Room" off of which the Ladies
Toilets are situated (whereas the Gents would be straight off the
platform).

Assuming that it's supposed to be safer for women travelling alone, or
something like that, then I don't see how that's actually going to
work in practice without staff to enforce it -- in which case it's
actually the presence of staff that makes the platform safer, and not
the single sex waiting room.

It's not going to stop an axe-murderer rushing in and doing his worst,
but there's quite a bit of social pressure for men not to use the Ladies
Waiting Room - much the same as not using the ladies toilets.

As for sex discrimination, is it against the law to purport to stop
a man using the Ladies toilet, and how is that enforced?

Well, they'd normally provide a gents toilet as well. If there was a
men-only waiting room provided in addition to a women-only waiting
room, that would be another matter.

What about stations where the ladies toilet is available and the gents
is locked? Is it *illegal* to suggest that the only available toilet is
"Ladies Only"?

ps How many Unisex toilets are there on UK platforms? Obviously the ones
on trains are, and the freestanding coin-operated ones, but what about
conventional loos? The only one I recall was in use at the Betjemen Arms
at St Pancras during the short period between when it opened and when
they'd finished building separate toilets.
--
Roland Perry