RAILWAY passengers are facing potential disruption to services after the UK's largest transport union threatened industrial action over human waste being flushed on rail tracks.
It follows complaints that railway and train maintenance workers are having to endure unpleasant discharges from on-board toilets as they go about their duties.
The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) says the problem can be easily solved by new technology that is widely available and it wants train operators to bring forward plans to do so.
Effluent retention tanks have yet to be fitted on almost 10 per cent of carriages with toilet facilities on ScotRail services, and while the Scottish Government has pledged they will be compulsory under its new franchisee, it gave companies bidding for the contract a deadline of 2020 to fit them.
Although Transport Minister Keith Brown has said that Abellio, which will take over the ScotRail franchise, and Caledonian Sleeper services will now discharge no waste on tracks by December 2017, the RMT has said it is not prepared to wait more than three years.
Gordon Martin, Scottish organiser for the RMT, met transport officials in an attempt to win concessions over the issue, and has demanded the deadline is brought forward to April 2016.
"We have been raising this for some time and our position is we have now had enough of it," he said. "We want action and we want it now.
"If you had businesses running up and down Hope Street and emptying their toilets there people would have an issue with it, but this is happening in our workplace.
"It is unhygienic and potentially very unhealthy. Our members are telling me clearly it is unacceptable in this day and age."
When asked whether the union, which is regarded as among the most militant in the UK, was prepared to take industrial action over the issue, Mr Martin said: "We may find a dispute arises. I would not rule it out."
The Scottish Government has confirmed trains dump waste directly on tracks run on some of the busiest routes in the country. They include services between Glasgow Queen Street and Alloa, Oban, Fort William and Mallaig.
Trains from Glasgow Central to Kilmarnock, East Kilbride, Stranraer, Dumfries and Carlisle do not always have on-board tanks, while services between Edinburgh and Glasgow via Shotts, Edinburgh to Newcraighall and Edinburgh to Fife are also yet to be updated.
Overall, there are 48 ScotRail carriages with passenger toilet facilities that are not connected to effluent retention tanks.
Mr Brown, who is standing for the SNP deputy leadership, said the original 2020 deadline had been set to give operators sufficient time for practical purposes to remove vehicles from service for the installation of controlled emission tanks without affecting their ability to operate services.
East Coast also operates trains that dump waste on to tracks.
A Transport Scotland spokeswoman said any potential industrial dispute was a matter for the employer and trade unions.
She added: "Transport Scotland has been aware this is an issue and, as such, made it a requirement of the next ScotRail franchise the operator would roll out a programme of having all rolling stock fitted with controlled emission tanks."
She added Mr Brown had written to UK Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin about cross-border services such as East Coast, which are the UK Government's responsibility.
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