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

[whole diary]

[Jim]

No - the carriage was empty and she was the other side of the carriage.

Erm ... so who were you talking to?   

Lol, He was actually talking to me

[Chris from Nailsea]

No - the carriage was empty and she was the other side of the carriage.

Erm ... so who were you talking to?   

Lol, He was actually talking to me

You should have shouted at him to keep the noise down, then!   

[willc]

Byelaw 7; "Except with written permission from the operator no person on the railway shall, to the annoyance of any person:
(I) sing; or
(I) use any instrument, article or equipment for the production or reproduction of sound"

So it's not just the quite coach, this applies to ANY train, ANY coach, so next time someone is annoying you just quote "byelaw 7"!!

Was interested to see this vacman, as its existence seems to have been forgotten at FGW^▸ (First Great Western) Towers. After my first ride on a refurbished 125, I filled in a comment form about the uselessness of the window stickers in the quiet coach, their near-invisibility from many of the seats and the lack of special antimacassars.

I got the stock 'this is all far too difficult for us to do anything about' response and, unless my memory is playing tricks (entirely possible), it pretty much suggested there was no legal force at all behind the concept of a quiet coach.

This gives the lie to that than then, though the trouble is that it's a damned sight harder amid all those tombstone seats to work out where the annoying idiot getting the string of bleeping text messages is lurking.
The shouting down the phone merchants are easier to track down, but the ones that really get my goat pick up a call, usually preceded by a ring tone at top volume, then march down the aisle announcing to the entire carriage 'hold on a minute, I'm on a train and in the quiet coach' and then repeat the performance about five minutes after they have returned, before someone finally chews them out - usually me, as my politeness rating has hit zero by then.

Surely it's not beyond the bounds of common sense to give guards a simple, quick, clear script to follow to explain the rules for coaches A and G, backed up by antimacassars like the old ones - I don't think a few more drops of ink will bankrupt First Group - and some of the little stickers below the windows that most Adelantes were given in coach A, which also mention that personal stereos are banned. It's not rocket science.

Maybe it's time for a letter to Mr Haines...

Re Mookiemoo's direct action, maybe it's just us Cotswold Line types, but I heard a few years back of a phone that eventually went out of the window... you see, those droplights in the doors on Mk3s are useful for something. And no, it wasn't me.

[jane s]

Okay, it is obvious that there are some people on here who simply have no understanding of the concept that being able to overhear the actual words of another person's conversation at all (loud or not) makes it absolutely impossible for some of us to maintain concentration.

(Speaking personally, ringtones & MP3's don't actually bother me that much, it is the speech that is the distraction.)

The fact that I am in the minority (which I readily accept) is the reason why there are not many more quiet coaches.

So if you are travelling in a pair or a group, & are likely to want to talk to each other rather than work or read, DO NOT SIT IN THE QUIET COACH.

That way you can pass your journey in the way that you want without ruining anyone else's!

[Jim]

Okay, it is obvious that there are some people on here who simply have no understanding of the concept that being able to overhear the actual words of another person's conversation at all (loud or not) makes it absolutely impossible for some of us to maintain concentration.

(Speaking personally, ringtones & MP3's don't actually bother me that much, it is the speech that is the distraction.)

The fact that I am in the minority (which I readily accept) is the reason why there are not many more quiet coaches.

So if you are travelling in a pair or a group, & are likely to want to talk to each other rather than work or read, DO NOT SIT IN THE QUIET COACH.

That way you can pass your journey in the way that you want without ruining anyone else's!

But at the end of the day, what rules were me and D_M breaking, none! So you would tell someone off for talking, but not for the phone going off in a clear cut phone free zone!

[ruthg]

I have to agree with Jim on this one, it's only mobile phones and music players that should be banned. Talking quietly has to be acceptable or you might as well ban people from tapping keyboards and rustling newspapers as well.

[vacman]

There is no byelaw to prevent someone talking!

[BandHcommuter]

tapping keyboards

Ah! tapping keyboards, now you've got me started!

Who are these people (tend to be longer distance, London-Taunton/Exeter, not that I wish to create a new, irrational stereotype ) who believe that keyboard technology has not moved on since the old-fashioned mechanical typewriters which died out in the 1960s? Every keystroke is an event requiring several newtons of force (well you need good print quality through that ribbon don't you?) and as for using the spacebar or enter key, well there always has to be a triumphant, almighty THUD to finish the sentence or paragraph. Enough to make me move to the family carriage 

[Btline]

Right, the Quite Zone as I would have it:

*Switch off mobile phones, laptops, music players, and any electronic equipment.

*Keep all other noise to a minimum.

Result: a quite zone that is actually quiet!

In normal coaches:

*Keep phones on silent. Move to the vestibule to make and receive phone calls ***.

*Respect other passengers at all times when using music players and laptops.

Result: a pleasant passenger environment where people can work and un-wind without listening to someone's phone call, or their piece of (cr*p) music! But friendly, where friends and family can talk.

Right, I'm ducking!

*** Ok, people may loose their seat, but I HATE "Hello, I'm on the train!" + what they want from the supermarket/ how they have had a sh*t day at work!

PS: Sorry about my language- not like me!

[Jim]

I have to agree with Jim on this one, it's only mobile phones and music players that should be banned. Talking quietly has to be acceptable or you might as well ban people from tapping keyboards and rustling newspapers as well.

How about banning sneezing, coughing, eating and drinking!

[vacman]

I have to agree with Jim on this one, it's only mobile phones and music players that should be banned. Talking quietly has to be acceptable or you might as well ban people from tapping keyboards and rustling newspapers as well.

How about banning sneezing, coughing, eating and drinking!

And passengers!

[smokey]

Ban Passengers, great Idea, all the trains would have plenty of spare seats and more often than not the Train WOULD run to time.
Might cause a very small problem with the CASH FLOW.

[vacman]

Ban Passengers, great Idea, all the trains would have plenty of spare seats and more often than not the Train WOULD run to time.
Might cause a very small problem with the CASH FLOW.

Just run freight trains.

[Conner]

Ban Passengers, great Idea, all the trains would have plenty of spare seats and more often than not the Train WOULD run to time.
Might cause a very small problem with the CASH FLOW.

Just run freight trains.

A lot more profitable.

[swlines]

I thought that was what FGW^▸ (First Great Western) already ran?

Freight services ferrying cattle between railway stations...