Paid Toilet Near Station Splits Novosibirsk Residents

Novosibirsk residents left nearly 300 comments under a news article about a paid toilet at the intercity bus departure point on Garin-Mikhailovsky Square. The site belongs to city council deputy Igor Kudin and, as it turned out, is not a bus station or terminal. Readers were outraged both by the lack of free toilet access for passengers and by the fact that the pavilion, which has a dispatcher, departure announcements, and a waiting room, is officially considered a ticket office for intercity routes. NGS compiled the comments left under the article.

«Then make it a bus station! Who thinks about the passengers? Children, the elderly… And running to the toilet at the train station is difficult. First, not all passengers can quickly find the toilet. Second, it»s quite far, especially with luggage,« complains reader with the nickname »283534190.«

A guest responds: «Who»s not letting you go to the toilet? Is that greed? 55 rubles ($0.60) – is that huge money? Huh?«

«Well, it»s about 1.5 times higher than prices at other paid toilets. And the greed here is exactly on the owner«s part: he begrudged letting passengers in for free,» another reader counters.

«On what basis is the area around the ticket booth fenced off and used as a bus parking lot?» asks reader with the nickname «Lyolik ya.»

Someone, in a classic move, tries to compare the situation with how «they do it abroad» (this manipulative trick on the internet has long been called «whataboutism»): «And what about toilets abroad, are they free? And then why does it stink so much at the Eiffel Tower?»

To which another commenter immediately objects. «Yes, they are free. For example, in Dubai, toilets are not only free and clean, but some feel like you»re in a museum,« one notes. Another guest asks a question: »And is the Eiffel Tower a train station?«

«On the way to Krasnozyorskoye and Dovolnoye there are bus stations, they have toilets. 20 rubles ($0.20). Fine. But not always clean,» commented user with the nickname «Barmaleя.»

And a second clarified: «There, with a bus ticket, it»s free. I travel to Krasnozyorskoye.«

«Money doesn»t smell. And this is called «Schrödinger»s Bus Station«: it exists in fact, but on paper it doesn»t,« another ironizes.

«Making money from urine is an old tradition. In the film »Gentlemen of Fortune«, one »citizen« watered down gasoline with urine. True, he was later imprisoned. But here… What complaints? It»s all legal,« shares a reader with knowledge of Soviet cinema.

«People. Don»t disgrace yourselves by discussing toilets. Those who respect themselves, let«s disperse. Let»s go watch Petrosyan or stand-up. It«s funnier there,» suggested a certain guest to wrap up the discussion.

The pavilion on Garin-Mikhailovsky Square was started by the company «Stalker» in 2021 as a structure protecting the entrance to an underground passage from bad weather. Even during the construction phase, the project caused a stir: at a meeting of the presidium of the city hall«s architectural and urban planning council, architects criticized the pavilion.