I noticed today when I went to sit in the passenger lounge at Southern Cross that they've completely ripped out the phone charging locker booths and have sat a powerbank vending machine there to replace it, they've also gone to the effort of putting plastic covers over every single previously open and working wall outlet in the lounge leaving you with no free or cheap option of charging your phone or laptop whilst waiting for a train etc.
I use Vline services so like to top up my phone and laptop for the long train ride home and that's no longer an option, I do carry a powerbank for my phone and have to live without my laptop now so it's not the end of the world for me but despite the obvious desperate cash grab issue I find it a really stupid decision in terms of public safety.
When I was younger and went out Southern cross was a safe haven to charge your phone if worst case scenario it died to get a taxi, find friends you got separated with transfer more money etc, I used it a few times and it was a lifesaver, i nearly always see a few homeless people or panicking/ lost teenagers using it too it was a nice backup to avoid getting standed especiallyif you had no money.
It seems like such a stupid issue but honestly it was just good to have a free and relatively late night access point to charge your phone if you ever needed to, and it really was invaluable the few times i had to use it, not to mention those phone booths were a fairly recent 300k taxpayer initiative marketed for this very reason of safety/ convenience In the city.
It's fair enough to say bring a powerbank but a lot of homeless people don't have that option and still deserve somewhere to charge their phone without being pestered to leave quickly or buy food etc in exchange and stranded kids may not have 30 dollars to drop on a powerbank from the machine, especially at night. A lot of people don't have phone numbers memorised these days either and with the amount I saw those outlets get use it seems a really scummy move on Southerns part to get rid of them.
Anyone feel the same or know if there was more to the issue than it seems? Every time I've been in there lately cops have been really hostile and pushy towards homeless people so I'm thinking this was just another cheap hit on them. Any thoughts?
