Dundee City Council and Scotrail have been criticised for “passing the buck” on providing toilets at the new railway station building.
Charity groups have called on the local authority to provide a changing places accessible toilet in the soon-to-open £28 million station.
Scottish Conservative MSP Bill Bowman will raise the matter in Holyrood this week after accusing the council and ScotRail of leaving vulnerable people “out in the cold” by refusing to install the facilities.
ScotRail said it was a matter for Dundee City Council to deal with, while the council has made it clear the decision not to install the facilities was made by Network Rail and franchisee ScotRail.
This week marks the start of charity group PAMIS’ Spend A Penny campaign, which hopes to raise awareness of changing places accessible toilets in public buildings.
North East region MSP Mr Bowman said: “ScotRail have pointed out that only Glasgow Central and Edinburgh Waverley require to have this standard of toilet, because of Transport Scotland and Department for Transport guidance.
“To build a train station is a massive undertaking and this is remarkably short-sighted.
“The V&A Museum of Design is going to provide a massive boost to visitor numbers in the city, many of whom will have undertaken a train journey without recourse to this standard of toilet.
“I had hoped for discussion between the parties and Pamis about how best to accommodate some of the most vulnerable people in our society.
“Both council and rail provider have now passed the buck on this issue, leaving people who would benefit out in the cold.
“I will ask the Scottish Government to intervene and call on the communities minister to help make this a truly 21st century rail destination, open and accessible to all.”
A ScotRail Alliance spokesperson said: “The main redevelopment of the station at street level is being led by Dundee City Council. It is for the council to comment on why this facility was not included.
“The ScotRail Alliance will be undertaking a number of improvements using the limited space available at platform level, including accessible disabled facilities.”
City development convener Councillor Lynne Short said: “The design of the station foyer was developed in consultation with Network Rail and Scotrail.
“Network Rail will own the building once it is complete and ScotRail, as Network Rail’s franchisee, will be responsible for the ongoing day-to-day management and maintenance of Dundee Station, including the foyer area and link building to platform.
“When we were considering the provision of public toilets Network Rail and Scotrail were quite clear that they did not want any such facilities at street level within the station foyer.
“The existing toilet facilities at platform level were considered to provide for the needs of rail passengers.
“As city development convener and a strong supporter of PAMIS I have worked with both Holyrood and Westminster colleagues in regard to this situation.
“Fortunately, as part of the V&A project a changing places has always been part of the plan and I hope something can be done to rectify the issue with an absence of one at the train station.”
