GAVLE, Sweden, Nov. 4 (UPI) -- A train conductor in Sweden said he was forced to shut down the toilets because too much flushing could stop the train.

The toilets on the run between Borlange and Gavle were shut off Sunday because of a high number of passengers and, therefore, the potential for a high number of flushings, the Arbetarbladet newspaper reported.


The compressor that triggers the train's emergency brake is connected to systems that control the toilets, said Mats Gustavsson, a technician with the Bergslagen train line, the Swedish news agency tt reported.

If the pressure drops below a certain level, the emergency brakes trigger automatically, Gustavsson said, noting it literally is possible to "flush on the emergency brake."

Engineer Hans Kaplan, one of the passengers inconvenienced by the shutdown, called the situation "completely nuts. There has to be a mistake in the construction," he said.