In message , at 10:14:51 on Sun, 3 Apr 2016,
bob remarked:

One thing that I did not understand was why they removed the payphones
on the platforms.

Too much maintenance compared to the takings, I expect. Their demise was
probably hastened by the project to give Rabbit coverage to all stations
(in much the same way 20yrs later Virgin wifi).

That Rabbit didn't last more than a couple of years is an unintended
outcome.

If it's a choice between using a payphone in the station and waiting till
you reach a landline at your destination, I can see the payphone being
used. If it's a case of just waiting until you get above ground and using
your mobile, I expect people would rather wait.

I got a Rabbit phone so that I could ring up people when I was in London
and let them know if I was going to be late for a meeting, and I would
invariably be travelling around by tube. Previously I'd had an analogue
mobile, but when it broke down I hadn't been using it enough to justify
replacing it.

When Rabbit was withdrawn, one of the compensation packages on offer was
a free Orange phone, although it was still on a contract at £30/month.
The networks weren't subsidising the phones from the monthly contract
back then.

I think there is also an element that most people have, for practical
purposes, "forgotten" about payphones, in that if they can't use their
mobile it doesn't occur to them to look for a payphone.

One of the reasons I didn't use payphones much was they often had
queues, and almost always stank of urine or worse.
--
Roland Perry