Quiet Coaches

[themeone]

Is there an official code of behaviour anywhere for Quiet Coaches?

I was on a train recently, chatting normally with a friend in a quiet coach, when the person in front said our conversation was too loud and could we be quiet. I didn't make an issue of it, but did reflect his expectations of "quiet" seemed different from mine. I had always thought that you shouldn't make or receive phone calls, or play music so others could hear it, but that normal conversation was OK.

I realise that making a phone call is no different to having a conversation in person (in fact quieter, since only one half of it would be audible) so I know there's failed logic to my thinking there.

Yet this chap seemed to think he was entitled to almost total silence. Surely public transport can never realistically deliver that especially now most trains are so busy.

 

[Darandio]

All TOC's generally have the same 'code' but they are worded slighty differently, the general one on conversation is to just talk quietly and have consideration for others. The rule certainly isn't for everyone to sit in silence.

 

[gazzaa2]

If you want to chit chat then why are you in a quiet coach? I think if you want to talk keep it quiet, not a normal pitch because it's a quiet zone.

If people are chatting normally then it defies the point of quiet zones.

People shouldn't be playing music without headphones in standard either. It's anti social behaviour.

 

[yorkie]

Chatting at a quiet volume should be no issue; it's not a silent coach.

I realise that making a phone call is no different to having a conversation in person (in fact quieter, since only one half of it would be audible) ...

That can be the case, but many people do tend to increase their volume when talking on the phone, especially on public transport; I think this may be because it can be hard to hear the other person and so there is an expectation the other person may also be struggling to hear them, hence raising their own voice.

 

[Deafdoggie]

If you want to chit chat then why are you in a quiet coach? I think if you want to talk keep it quiet, not a normal pitch because it's a quiet zone.

If people are chatting normally then it defies the point of quiet zones.

Quiet coaches are generally the quietest coaches, so are far easier to get a seat in. A silly policy having quiet coaches in my opinion, and causes more issues than it solves. XC were very sensible to get rid of it on virtually all their trains.

 

[Bob M]

Another reason why people talk loudly on mobiles is a design flaw in the phones. On a landline phone there is only one wire, so you hear your own voice in the earpiece. Mobiles don't do this, so the speaker gets no feedback about volume.

 

[themeone]

All TOC's generally have the same 'code' but they are worded slighty differently, the general one on conversation is to just talk quietly and have consideration for others. The rule certainly isn't for everyone to sit in silence.

To be honest, neither of us had noticed it was a quiet coach, hence talking normally. But even a hushed conversation would be audible to the person sitting right in front of you, such as the gentleman who complained. If he stayed on the train for any length of time, I suspect he won't have had a happy experience, as I know it gets a lot more crowded as it heads towards London.

 

[eMeS]

Is there an official code of behaviour anywhere for Quiet Coaches?

I was on a train recently, chatting normally with a friend in a quiet coach, when the person in front said our conversation was too loud and could we be quiet. ...

Could you be going deaf? I became quite deaf before I was aware of the fact. The first I realised how bad I was, I was when watching TV in my bedroom at a hotel, and one of the staff knocked on the door to complain. The hospital confirmed and I've worn hearing aids since.

 

[RichT54]

Do staff try to enforce 'Quiet' carriages? A couple of years ago I got on a train at Portsmouth Harbour and noticed all the Quiet carriage signs. It was fine until two women with a number of small children also got in. They made a lot of noise, especially one of the children which shrieked loudly every few seconds and continued even when the guard walked through the carriage; but he didn't even speak to them about them being in a Quiet carriage. Fortunately they got off about 15 minutes later.

 

[PHILIPE]

When the IETs were introduced on GWR, a large easily visible sign (HST) was displayed to indicate the Quiet Coach and was replaced by some small and not easily visible notice so, of course, complaints flooding in from passengers who wanted quiet. GWR say they are replacing them but it's taken over a year already and still not completed. They are reliant on Hitachi to do the work as the 800s are their toy and were specified by DFT

 

[DarloRich]

Chatting at a quiet volume should be no issue; it's not a silent coach.

is the correct answer - despite what many self appointed zealots seem to think!

 

[embers25]

SWR Help tweeted at the weekend that staff have been instructed that it is only voluntary on their trains now and so will not be enforcing it, which is really annoying as I for one really value the peace to work (quiet volume chat I have no issue with but mobiles are not quiet and very distracting). In Finland if you even talk in their quiet coaches the passengers and crew will quickly ask you to move, even when the train is full.

 

[farci]

I always mute the ringer on my phone in a quiet coach, return any calls from the vestibule or text 'unavailable until...' I think that's the limit of my obligation. Surely chatting at normal volume to someone in a neighbouring seat is totally OK?

 

[gazzaa2]

Personally I think there should be signs on trains to leave the carriage if you want to make or take a phone call.

 

[adrock1976]

Regarding the signs on South West Trains, I have noticed that there are stickers that have the red circle with the diagonal line through them, with a picture of a mobile phone in one of them and a picture of a head bust that has headphones (what I am describing here is similar to the No Smoking signs, that have a picture of a lit cigarette in a red circle with a diagonal line through it).

I have thought that the headphones sticker is designed wrong, as this would give the meaning of that there is no requirement to wear headphones when listening to music or audio entertainment. I feel that there should not be the diagonal line in the circle.

 

[Mikey C]

SWR Help tweeted at the weekend that staff have been instructed that it is only voluntary on their trains now and so will not be enforcing it, which is really annoying as I for one really value the peace to work (quiet volume chat I have no issue with but mobiles are not quiet and very distracting). In Finland if you even talk in their quiet coaches the passengers and crew will quickly ask you to move, even when the train is full.

To most people there's a difference between a quick 30 second conversation and 2 or more people "having a laugh" for a long time. If 2 people are travelling together on business, while they may be working in silence for most of the journey, it would be harsh if they had to leave the carriage if they wanted to compare their figures or run through some information!

Besides it would be difficult for the ticket inspectors to do their job without making some noise, ditto the refreshment trolley

 

[cuccir]

The only signed restriction or announcements that I've seen/heard about quiet coaches is about electronic devices - usually something along the lines of phones on silent, no calls in the carriage, headphones on if you have any entertainment, though the exact focus varies.

Beyond that, you'd hope most people would have a sense about keeping down the noise of conversations or general 'boisterousness' but fundamentally one person's quiet is another person's loud, and it certainly isn't a 'silent coach'.

 

[Bletchleyite]

headphones on if you have any entertainment

That should be mandatory in ALL coaches, and indeed it is a Byelaw offence to play music etc out loud if it is to someone's annoyance. Here's news - if I am in the coach it IS to my annoyance. I wish the TOCs would pack in prosecuting minor ticketing offences and start prosecuting this instead. It is simply inconsiderate, rude and selfish.

The headphones bit is meant to represent ensuring the volume is low enough that it is not audible above the background noise.

I'd actually like to see the Byelaw changed such that playing devices out loud is an offence even if it doesn't cause annoyance (as many feel too threatened to speak up), and guards briefed to enforce it in the manner they do e.g. feet on seats.

Though I did once get a round of applause for (politely) asking a family playing several devices out loud to either switch them off or leave the quiet coach. They did leave, though I have no idea if the devices were also silenced.

 

[Matt_pool]

Not in a quiet coach but on a First Great Western 150 from Torquay to Exeter about 15 years ago. It was a Saturday afternoon, middle of Summer, I was enjoying the view out of the window as we went along the coast at Dawlish.

The train was quite busy and people were chatting to each other at a normal volume. Then 4 or 5 teenagers got on (can't remember which station) and one of them started playing some god awful rap/garage/noise on a mobile phone. As you can expect the music, if you can call it that, was loud and very tinny. The teenagers also started laughing and shrieking loudly (that loud shriek that only teenage girls can do!) and kicking plastic bottles around the floor.

After about 10 minutes of this, and also noticing that other people sat around me were tutting to themselves, I turned around and said "do you mind turning that music down!".

Amazingly they turned the music off and they all remained silent until Exeter.

The behaviour of some people on public transport is beyond belief and not even a quiet coach would stop the noise and general prattness that they display! I wouldn't dare tell someone to turn their music down (or whatever) these days for fear of getting a torrent of abuse, or worse, thrown at me!

 

[Journeyman]

That should be mandatory in ALL coaches, and indeed it is a Byelaw offence to play music etc out loud if it is to someone's annoyance. Here's news - if I am in the coach it IS to my annoyance. I wish the TOCs would pack in prosecuting minor ticketing offences and start prosecuting this instead. It is simply inconsiderate, rude and selfish.

I was on a train to work the other day, and a guy in a suit was playing a video with really irritating music on it. I politely asked him to turn it off, and he laid into me with a foul mouthed rant, implying that it was ME that was the asshole.

 

[bramling]

I was on a train to work the other day, and a guy in a suit was playing a video with really irritating music on it. I politely asked him to turn it off, and he laid into me with a foul mouthed rant, implying that it was ME that was the asshole.

Always amusing when someone does that immediately behind the cab. The driver may well be the "asshole", but this soon changes when it's realised the train won't be moving!

I simply don't get why some people find it so much of a problem to be quiet in a quiet carriage. If it's such a problem, there's plenty of other places to sit, and if not then going for a short time without making a massive noise surely isn't that much of a problem, certainly for adults.

 

[scosutsut]

After years of using it during its East Coast days, I used to refer to the quiet coach as the riot coach on EMCL Edinburgh - Kings Cross services as in my experience it was neither adhered to nor enforced!

 

[Bletchleyite]

After years of using it during its East Coast days, I used to refer to the quiet coach as the riot coach on EMCL Edinburgh - Kings Cross services as in my experience it was neither adhered to nor enforced!

TBH I'm not sure how much of a benefit it has. In every coach people should be subdued (e.g. speak at a moderate volume) and considerate (i.e. use headphones for any audio devices).

I'd consider a family coach more use, to be honest, with more tables and areas where kids running around is fine and won't upset anyone.

 

[J-Rod]

I was on a train to work the other day, and a guy in a suit was playing a video with really irritating music on it. I politely asked him to turn it off, and he laid into me with a foul mouthed rant, implying that it was ME that was the asshole.

Didn't you realise how important he was? Obviously not.

Anyway, quiet doesn't mean 'silent'. 'Silent' is commuter trains, surely?! (Apart from 'Mike' ringing 'Dave' about that really important thing which is really important at 7am). Can't see anything wrong with a regular conversation in a Quiet Coach, though I can understand that there might be some who see it as their own personal fiefdom whilst they're on the train to police as they see fit.

 

[Journeyman]

I'd consider a family coach more use, to be honest, with more tables and areas where kids running around is fine and won't upset anyone.

Didn't Great Western try that for a while? It didn't have any extra facilities, but was designated for family use.

 

[Journeyman]

Didn't you realise how important he was? Obviously not.

Anyway, quiet doesn't mean 'silent'. 'Silent' is commuter trains, surely?! (Apart from 'Mike' ringing 'Dave' about that really important thing which is really important at 7am). Can't see anything wrong with a regular conversation in a Quiet Coach, though I can understand that there might be some who see it as their own personal fiefdom whilst they're on the train to police as they see fit.

This wasn't a quiet coach, but I'm talking playing the music out loud on speakers, which is horribly obnoxious behaviour and shouldn't be tolerated anywhere.

 

[J-Rod]

This wasn't a quiet coach, but I'm talking playing the music out loud on speakers, which is horribly obnoxious behaviour and shouldn't be tolerated anywhere.

Yeah, something you'd expect (but not condone) from Da Kidz... your friend here should have known better but obviously, was far too important to have small things like politeness bother him.

Personally, I cringe when I've left the ringer switched on on my phone and it goes off. I can imagine a 'me' two seats down calling me something that rhymes with anchor.

 

[Journeyman]

Yeah, something you'd expect (but not condone) from Da Kidz... your friend here should have known better but obviously, was far too important to have small things like politeness bother him.

Personally, I cringe when I've left the ringer switched on on my phone and it goes off. I can imagine a 'me' two seats down calling me something that rhymes with anchor.

I know what you mean. I leave my phone on silent all the time, as I have a smartwatch that buzzes when I get calls - this doesn't disturb anyone. Unless it's literally a matter of life and death, I won't make or take calls on public transport either, quite apart from it disturbing other people, I don't want my personal business overheard.

 

[J-Rod]

I don't want my personal business overheard.

Totally agree!

 

[RunawayTrain]

SWR Help tweeted at the weekend that staff have been instructed that it is only voluntary on their trains now and so will not be enforcing it, which is really annoying as I for one really value the peace to work (quiet volume chat I have no issue with but mobiles are not quiet and very distracting). In Finland if you even talk in their quiet coaches the passengers and crew will quickly ask you to move, even when the train is full.

This is interesting. To be honest I have never seen a guard intervene in a quiet carriage either on SWR or on SWT and many times wished they would.

Quiet coaches create a paradox: by generally being quieter than other coaches they make an excellent place to make a phone call.