I learn from a conversation on Twitter that East Midlands Trains is in the process or phasing out the quiet coaches on its services.
The reason given - "because our onboard team were unable to enforce this rule" - sounds a bit wimpish. What would the team do if a passenger took it up on its constant urging to report "unusual" behaviour?
But I find it hard to be outraged at this decision, because it is ages since I chose to sit in a quite coach.
They sounded a good idea, and for the most part people respected the rule about being quiet in them.
The problem was that every now and then someone - and it was usually a suit who thought such rules did not apply to people like him - shattered the peace with a conversation on his mobile.
Because it took place in a quiet coach, that conversation was rendered infuriating rather than mildly irritating, as it would have been in any other coaches.
So, for a calm journey, I took to travelling in those other coaches again.
Amen to both the observation of the extra irritation factor caused by the unaware/ignorant yakking in the quiet coach. And that of East Midlands' admission that their staff are unable (no doubt due to elfnsafety fears) to admonish anyone breaking rules of behaviour on the train.
ReplyDeleteI had some tweets from East Midlands Trains in response to this post.
ReplyDeleteEssentially, they say that because trains are sometimes crowded, and because of the modern obsession with reserving seats, the quiet coach can fill up with people who do not want to be there.