Quiet Carriage / Coach: restrictions and issues - ongoing discussion, merged topic

[whole diary]

[TerminalJunkie]

As a parent, I would like a carriage for children but excluding mobile phones and intolerant folk 

Seems a bit intolerant, if you ask me...

[willc]

Well the Norwegians do a pretty good job of accommodating families with small children on their long-haul train, with specially fitted-out rolling stock.

http://www.nsb.no/on_board/nsb-familie-article24736-2760.html

There is a play area for children built into the coach. Struggling to find a decent picture, but this gives some idea

http://www.railfaneurope.net/pix/no/car/express/NSB_BC7-1_i1.jpg

Well of course, when I say that, I was making the assumption that people had the the common sense to work it out for themselves and the few that didn't could be subjected to a rant 

Yes, but I'm tired of ranting at these people when they should be sitting somewhere else - why is it that FGW^▸ (First Great Western) seem incapable of actually fixing on a policy and then providing easily-understood, visible notices of it in its quiet coaches?

The tiny blue stickers are damn near invisible, while the pink strips have acres of wasted space on them, where you could put in nice pictograms of crossed-out phones, personal stereos and the like - Chiltern have very good window stickers doing exactly this job in their quiet areas - and there is nothing visible on the outside of FGW's quiet coaches to identify them as such, which might make someone pause for thought before they set foot inside. The notice on the toilet bulkheads is a masterpiece - it says all you need to know, but you only notice it as you leave the coach!

[DanielP]

I've travelled on a family coach from Myrdahl to Bergen on the Oslo-Bergen railway.

As we got on to a standard coach, a NSB official waved us to come over. Being used to UK^▸ (United Kingdom) rail we were preparing for some kind of Norwegian Jobsworth event. However, he directed us to a coach at the front, which was approcimately like a kid's birthday party! The first part of the coach was about three or four family compartments, with spaces for buggies etc, the middle section was a playground and the far section was an area of airline seating.

My son thought he had gone to heaven, as he loves trains and to find one with a playground in was quite exciting. Of course, you could not have the playground in the UK, as health and safety would prevent it (there was a minor fall, scrape or bump every 5mins, due to the train rocking. I have attached a photo of the play area with several kids kicking each other in the head! It'll be a cold day in hell when we get something like this in the UK......

Funnily enough, a grumpy British business person got into the coach by mistake- the kids ripped all the keys off his laptop and took has mobile phone apart before he had a chance to protest.

(only kidding).

The Scandinavians (and most mainland European countries) have a much more tollerent attitude to kids and are actually sensible enough to plan for all kinds of train users. Not even the best behaved three year old is going to be able to keep that quiet, unless eating or asleep!! When my son was wailing on an Intercity Plus express to Genoa, two random strangers, a priest and a FS clippie all came along (smiling) to have a chat and make of fuss of him. Needless to say, quiet was restored quite quickly. Conversely, we were booked into a FGW^▸ (First Great Western) Paddington to Cardiff service- we had been booked into the quiet coach for some reason, as we certainly hadn't asked. It was the first off peak train out of London, so once we were in, we couldn't get out. My son was happily pointing out all the trains, trucks and buffers at the top of his voice. Can you imagine the looks we got? Nothing could be done though!

Daniel

[devon_metro]

At the back of each seat is one of these. Spotted it on the 0838 Bath - Bristol.

(Sorry its blurred - but it looks good to me!)

[IndustryInsider]

It's good. Very difficult for anyone to miss as the majority of seats are airline. I had thought of suggesting a sticker on the back of the seats, but that would just get peeled off by bored kids. This would be simple to replace if it gets moved, and the message and guidance is clear. The only improvement I can think of is 'Quiet Carriage' in a few of the common languages, so that non-English speakers might get the gist of it too.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Thanks, devon_metro!

Am I right in reading that fourth bullet point as saying, "Please watch your volume when talking to other passengers"?

Erm ... on what piece of equipment will you be able to 'watch' your volume?  Some sort of decibel counter, installed in the seatbacks??

C.  

[Btline]

The "watch you volume when talking" is good.

But the earphones when on a DVD player part is bad.

Why are you in the Quiet Zone if you want to watch a film?

And the moving picture could annoy a fellow passengers - along with gun shots or explosions...

[Mookiemoo]

The "watch you volume when talking" is good.

But the earphones when on a DVD player part is bad.

Why are you in the Quiet Zone if you want to watch a film?

And the moving picture could annoy a fellow passengers - along with gun shots or explosions...

Again - I have noise canceling headphones - bet I could watch terminator next to you and you woldnt know

As for the flicking screen - lets have a rule - if there is another human near you you cant tell

The rule sould be - if they are making a noise above a whispered conversation - its a problem.

[cereal_basher]

I would rather listen to music in the quiet carriage because that means I can hear mine quietly through my headphones rather than have to turn the volume up to drown out people who don't use headphones.

[Mookiemoo]

how about ban children from thevquiet carriage - at least laptops, DVDs etc have volume control - brats do not

[John R]

Would have to make sure that booking systems give you the option not to choose a quiet carriage. What age would the cut off be?

[devon_metro]

You can't ban children, ban the parents that take them in there, if they know that they are going to be a pain in the arse!

[Mookiemoo]

Would have to make sure that booking systems give you the option not to choose a quiet carriage. What age would the cut off be?

But that's my point - I can live with clicking keys - I don't even notice them! In fact any relatively low level but constant noise

It's the sudden outbursts that interupt my concentration. Point I'm trying to make is why ban relatively quiet laptops but not children

[IndustryInsider]

Point I'm trying to make is why ban relatively quiet laptops but not children

I agree that noisy children and families can be more of a distraction, but nobody is suggesting banning laptops, certainly not FGW^▸ (First Great Western) - in fact there are signs that they are starting to relax rules concerning things like MP3 players which can be used (and enjoyed) at a sensible volume, or with less sound pollution (but inferior sound quality) using noise cancelling earphones, or the best of both worlds with 'sound isolating' ones. Even Btline is happy as long as you tap quietly...

[Btline]

The problem is, there are a lot of people who listen to loud music, without noise cancelling earphones!

I still have a basic problem with the notice.

In NO coach should you listen to music where it is disturbing to others. And not just out of common courtesy. Fact: with normal ear phones - if the music or a beat can be heard when you are not wearing them, the sound is too loud, you're damaging your ears.

Same with mobiles. In no coaches should people be forced to listen to overloud conversations, not just in the Quiet Zone.