Palakkad: The closure of the women’s restroom at the Palakkad Junction railway station has left female passengers in a daily struggle, forcing them to use the men’s toilets with open urinal pots and little privacy.

The first platform of the station originally had a dedicated women’s restroom along with a common restroom for men and women. While the toilets in the common facility were earlier used exclusively by men, the closure of the women’s restroom has forced everyone to depend on the same space.

Women passengers complain that the lack of privacy in the men’s toilets is deeply inconvenient. Having to queue up alongside men for basic needs like bathing has made matters worse. The open urinal pots add to the discomfort, even for male passengers.

Though every platform at the station has toilets, only those on platform one are free to use. Once the women’s restroom, currently under repair, reopens in three months, it too will be converted into a pay-and-use facility.