Sunday, October 12, 2014

Where you can and can't use and charge your mobile phone on stations and trains

Dreadful when your phone dies - no emails, can't call, can't answer, can't check your satnav, can't check train times or call a taxi, can't take a selfie or a photo of something interesting. When you need to call a taxi from the station or phone home to say, "I'm here - collect me," you feel pretty desperate. If only you could charge your phone on the train.

Many stations in London enable you to use a mobile phone for up to half an hour or longer. Wonderful. Providing your phone is charged.

You can buy chargers, little devices the size of your phone which store charge, like an extension, in effect a large battery. The cost and size varies according to how long you need a charge. For example, The Mobile Juice Pack 6000.
www.PowerGenbatt.com


Having bought it, you must remember to charge it and to take it with.  Some of us find it hard to remember to take our phone, never mind remembering the charger for long journeys or days out.

Luckily my phone was fully charged when I spotted this plug on an underground train in London. I was delighted. I took a picture.

Unfortunately, I then noticed the sign beside the socket.


Before I got off, I just had time to put on my glasses and bend down to read the instruction. No! It says Not for passenger use. Ah - shame. So disappointed.

That's a pity.

Why can't passengers use the sockets? Is it cost? Then get a sponsor. It would be so handy. And a safety feature. Once or twice my phone has died before I reached my station late at night and I thought how much safer I would feel if I had a working phone. I could take a photo of anybody lurking nearby, or a selfie, and email it to others. 

Being a law-abiding person I would not use a socket which told you not to use it.

But the lady sitting next to the socket is using it. The train has not crashed. She has not been arrested.

I have not had time to tell her. Obviously she had not understood the sign. Maybe she doesn't speak English. Perhaps she speaks
French.

Moi aussi.

I am also getting forgetful.


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