An Irish Rail passenger claims they were left disgusted after they got an unwelcome surprise when collecting their ticket on Friday morning.
The individual was collecting their ticket from a machine at Sutton Station in Dublin when they reportedly had the unfortunate experience.
When they put their hand into the machine, they said they discovered that someone had "thought the ticket and change receptacle would make for a good emergency urinal."
The reported terrible start to the Dubliner's day was made slightly better when two workers at the station gave the commuter a free ticket and hand sanitiser.
Sharing their story on Reddit on Friday, they said: "If you are travelling with Irish Rail today or tomorrow, beware of the second ticket machine from the entrance at Sutton Station, someone thought the ticket and change receptacle would make for a good emergency urinal.
"I fell victim to the mystery p****r when I put my hand in there to take out my ticket and 70 cents. Pay attention where you stick your fingers people, Jesus..."
They added: "There were two workers at the station and I let them know.
"They were kind enough to give me a free ticket for unlimited travel in the green zone for the day and hand sanitiser. They might have called cleaners by the time I left at 10."
Irish people were revolted by the "awful" claims that someone had urinated in the machine.
One person said: "Jesus I'm sorry that happened to you."
A second said: "That’s so grim."
A third replied: "My stomach feels queasy after reading that. Grim is an understatement."
Another person said: "Well, I guess now I have a new fear of using ticket machines....That's awful though. Hope your day gets better."
Someone else added: "I'm so glad I don't have to use public transport much, and you have endorsed that sentiment by what happened to you."
While one person commented: "There's some filthy animals out there."
However, a spokesperson for Irish Rail said there is no evidence that the machine was used "for anything other than buying or collecting tickets" in the preceding hours.
They said: "We don’t believe that the ticket machine was misused. It was actually cleaned this morning and it appears the customer was the first to use it after the clean, so the area was likely a little wet after the cleaning.
"The machine was given a deep clean after the customer reported this as a precaution, but a subsequent review of CCTV confirms that nobody used the machine for anything other than buying or collecting tickets."
