Quiet zones at stations

[py_megapixel]

I'm splitting this off into it's own thread in order to avoid dragging this one massively offtopic.

If we could find a way to deal with the accessibility issue that would pose, I'd be well in support of adopting a "silent terminal" approach with only serious out of course running being announced.

I think quite a lot of passengers find one or two announcements per train to be quite reassuring, even if they aren't visually impaired in any way.

What I would be in favour of would be, at large stations, possibly one of the waiting rooms/shelters on the platform could have all announcements disabled, well soundproofed doors/walls/windows, no vending machines etc. which may produce noise, and signage requesting that passengers switch off the sound on their electronic devices. This could then be clearly designated as a "quiet zone", which is good for those who struggle with the crowding and noise found on the main station (which can be for a variety of reasons).

With some (shock horror) coordination and planning, it could probably even be arranged so that the the quiet carriage of trains stops outside this area.

Any thoughts on this idea?

 

[Dr Hoo]

I vaguely recall that Stockport has two waiting rooms on the main southbound island (1 & 2). One used to be 'quiet' and the other had announcements. Not been there for ages because of Covid.

Plenty of passengers 'these days' (again pre-Covid) seem to have some sort of ear-phones, headsets with noise cancelling, etc. anyway.

Do you happen to know what proportion of the population struggle with ambient noise? (I recognise that some people do.)

 

[py_megapixel]

Do you happen to know what proportion of the population struggle with ambient noise? (I recognise that some people do.)

It's extremely hard to say, because it isn't a cut-and-dry thing. For example, those who might ordinarily have no issue with it at all could struggle very much with it if they are tired/stressed.

The reason I make the suggestion is that there does seem to be demand for a quiet zone on long-distance express trains, and anyone who boards such a train must usually also visit a large station.

Plenty of passengers 'these days' (again pre-Covid) seem to have some sort of ear-phones, headsets with noise cancelling, etc. anyway.

Those aren't a replacement for a proper quiet space. The headsets which provide proper active noise cancellation are the ones which go over the top of your ears so they can feel somewhat restrictive. For some users they also create an unpleasant sensation in the ears.

 

[Tio Terry]

You would, of course, still need to be able to announce emergency evacuation messages to quiet rooms or spaces, but that is fairly simple to arrange.

I have, in the past, experienced similar things. One observation is that people often open doors and hang their heads out so that they can hear the announcements they are missing!

 

[londonmidland]

As some of you probably know already, Birmingham New Street has gone all out and disabled all train announcements bar the generic and safety ones, which I think is scandalous, as well as discriminatory for visual impaired people.

If you want to try and cut down on noise pollution, then remove the non-essential announcements.

 

[py_megapixel]

One observation is that people often open doors and hang their heads out so that they can hear the announcements they are missing!

A few stations have tried this, but I know of a couple which have made the mistake of not fitting any displays in the quiet room, so there's no running information at all.

As some of you probably know already, Birmingham New Street has gone all out and disabled all train announcements bar the generic and safety ones, which I think is scandalous, as well as discriminatory for visual impaired people.

If you want to try and cut down on noise pollution, then remove the non-essential announcements.

Absolutely. But I'm not suggesting that disabling announcements across the entire station is a good idea. What I'm suggesting is designated waiting rooms free of noise. There could even be a single, short announcement for every train - just not the constant waffle you seem to get at the moment.
The rest of the station would still have the full range of announcements, and of course staff assistance would still be available to those who need it.

 

[takno]

As some of you probably know already, Birmingham New Street has gone all out and disabled all train announcements bar the generic and safety ones, which I think is scandalous, as well as discriminatory for visual impaired people.

If you want to try and cut down on noise pollution, then remove the non-essential announcements.

That's terrible. So there are no useful announcements at all, just the agonisingly jarring see em, shop em, shaft em campaign?

 

[LSWR Cavalier]

When I have a long wait I stroll to either end of the platform, that makes a decent interesting walk
Peaceful too, not many others do likewise

 

[londonmidland]

That's terrible. So there are no useful announcements at all, just the agonisingly jarring see em, shop em, shaft em campaign?

Precisely. Totally silent for any train service announcements, bar delay, cancellations or platform alterations.