A long-distance train from Rovaniemi to Helsinki stopped for bathroom breaks in several cities along the way on Tuesday evening.
THE INTERCITY 266 TRAIN from Rovaniemi to Helsinki was reported to stop for toilet breaks along the way on Tuesday evening. The train was already well behind its schedule.
The conductor said that all the toilets on the train were out of order.
The reason given was that the pipes in the train had frozen. The government-owned railway company, VR, later confirmed this and also said that the train’s showers were out of order.
A passenger on the train who was speaking to the Finnish daily Helsingin Sanomat, said that the train stopped for toilet breaks in Kemi, Oulu, Seinäjoki and Tampere.
The passenger said that the train was “quite crowded” because of the holiday season. Many languages other than Finnish could be heard among the travelers.
People joked on the train using the old Finnish proverb:
“The toilet didn’t work like a toilet on the train.”
Junan vessa ei toiminutkaan kuin junan vessa.
The origin story of the saying “toimii kuin junan vessa” goes back to the days when trains used to open the hatch directly onto the tracks after a toilet delivery, allowing the waste to fall through the hole onto the tracks.
