(The following column by Steve Dunham appeared on the Free Lance-Star website on November 30.)
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. — The quiet cars — a welcome innovation on Virginia Rail way Express — provide a spot for passengers seeking a refuge from noise.
The idea seems to have started with Amtrak, where quiet cars were so popular that Amtrak began designating them on more trains, and it has spread to commuter railroads.
Some passengers still haven’t caught on, though. People unclear about the concept think that if they talk quietly on their cell phones, that’s good enough. Unfortunately, silence is fragile. Half of a phone conversation, spoken loudly, can annoy all but the noisiest group of passengers–and VRE doesn’t have many of those. It doesn’t take a lot to disturb the peace in a quiet car.
The reason cell phones are not permitted in the quiet cars is that they are so disruptive. They are designed to intrude. Many of them have a ringer that gets louder and louder till someone answers it. They demand attention, and in a quiet environment they get it.
Many cell phones also seem to have poor reception, poor transmission, or maybe just poor electronics, requiring the users to speak loudly in order to be heard. They can be heard, all right, often by a lot of people who would rather not listen.
VRE riders have only an hour or so to relax on the way home or to work, and one cell phone ringing in the quiet car sounds a lot like an alarm clock, insistently chirping or maybe playing the “Mexican Hat Dance” until everyone is awake.
Passengers choose the quiet car on VRE for a reason. Some of us are short on sleep. Some are single parents who still have an evening of household work ahead of them. Some work two jobs. Some just want a little peace and quiet.
We aren’t being selfish. In fact, we’ve learned to pity the poor person who has interrupted some other activity to answer the telephone and hears: “Hi! I’m on the train.”
The quiet car on VRE, as people are learning, is normally next to the engine, and the train crews sometimes announce that fact and even politely ask noisemakers to move to another car.
It makes sense to have the quiet car at one end of the train, so that there aren’t people passing through it at every station stop, but the car at the other end of the train usually has the only bathroom, so it’s where people traveling with kids, for example, will usually want to sit–not a good choice to be the quiet car.
The car next to the engine is OK, though. Curiously, I can sleep through the sound of the diesel, which from inside the train sounds more like a distant rumble than a roar. I can sleep through the whistling. I can even sleep through the announcements for stations other than my own.
A cell phone ringing or a loud voice, however, means end of nap time. I think it must be the same for a lot of other people, because they choose the quiet car even though there is some noise from the engine and the announcements.
You don’t have to throw away your cell phone, though. The rest of the coaches are available for cell phone conversations–but you still might get a few dirty looks if you loudly state: “Hi! I’m on the train.”
(Steve Dunham of Spotsylvania County chairs the board of directors of the Virginia Association of Railway Patrons.)