Why the Lack of Quiet Cars?

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Skim

Skim

Train Attendant
Joined
Dec 30, 2012
Messages
65
Location
Alton, IL
How did some routes come to have quiet cars and not others? Given a peaceful atmosphere, the train is a great place to read.

I often travel the Lincoln Service. Staff often fail to enforce the "headphones only" rules and rude passengers blare music for all to hear. Some listen with headphones, but so loudly that sound leaks out. Then we have the loud chitchat. I don't advocate silencing everyone, but a quiet car would be nice on all routes. What criteria does Amtrak use to decide which trains have them?
 
Customer demand is what made having a quiet car on the NERs the norm. And the practice really needs to be expanded to a second car, as the quiet car will fill up before others. IIRC they started on the Acelas and were so popular, and there was so much feedback for them, that the practice was put in place on the Regionals. Therefore my suggestion would be to be as loud and vocal as you can be, as the best way to try to get them on the Lincolns. Ah, life's ironies! :) Get as many folks as possible to not only contact Amtrak, but also anyone and everyone in the state of Illinois you can think of.
 
The Davy Crockett said:
Customer demand is what made having a quiet car on the NERs the norm. And the practice really needs to be expanded to a second car, as the quiet car will fill up before others. IIRC they started on the Acelas and were so popular, and there was so much feedback for them, that the practice was put in place on the Regionals. Therefore my suggestion would be to be as loud and vocal as you can be, as the best way to try to get them on the Lincolns. Ah, life's ironies! :) Get as many folks as possible to not only contact Amtrak, but also anyone and everyone in the state of Illinois you can think of.
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I agree - After the Regionals it came to the Keystones as well, but the Keystone conductors barely if ever enforced it (at least Keystones that I've ridden on).....Now the Keystones are very heavy handed about the QC, having the conductor stand outside the car at NYP and announce it to everyone boarding the car directly from the platform. They also now turn down the lights in the QC (bout damn time) like the Regional QC's, and they announce it over the loudspeaker several time "This is the QC, library like atmosphere in this car".

I never mind quick-quiet conversations to you neighbor, but the LONG, Voice-Carrying, Conversations when the rest of the car is dead quiet is more annoying to me than having the whole car making noise.
 
One issue with quiet cars on the linclon service I can see is that intermediate stops mostly have very short platforms plus the manual operated doors of the Horizon cars means that the crew boards passengers according to destination. On my one Lincoln service trip going CHI to STL my full Horizons car didn't even get seat checks since we were all going the full route.
 
One issue with quiet cars on the linclon service I can see is that intermediate stops mostly have very short platforms plus the manual operated doors of the Horizon cars means that the crew boards passengers according to destination.
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And therein may lie the problem with "quiet cars": their use reduces the flexibility and adaptability of limited equipment. Many people like to visit and socialize with others while on the train; that's what makes train travel more appealing than almost any other type of transportation. If the only seats available are in a "quiet car," then they have to give up one of the reasons they're riding the train in the first place. Conversely, if someone wants to ride in a "quiet car" but will be boarding or disembarking at a station with a short platform or other issues that require either stopping the train twice or having the passenger travel through other cars to get on or off, that can also be one more headache for the train crew.
 
Skim,

Yet another factor is the fact that the Lincoln Service is supported by the State, so they get a say in whether or not the train runs with a Quiet Car. For the NEC services, the decision is Amtrak's alone.
 
As to the platform length, all the Lincoln Service trains have their business class in on one end, shared with the cafe car. I have seen staff escorting BC passengers through the train to the end when platforms are short. Busier stations all have full platforms: ALN, SPI, BNL, etc.

Even though it adds some headache to seating issues, I think the option of a more peaceful ride would significantly increase ridership. Until a few years ago, noise wasn't as big a deal. Now with trains fuller and riders using more loud devices, Amtrak is starting to become a lower class service. Those of us who don't like to other people's music or excited passengers yelling across the aisles need another option if we're to remain loyal customers. I suspect many first time riders are put off by sitting through hours of this behavior. Enforcement would go a long way, but a quiet car would truly make the train relaxing again.
 
On Lincoln service trains, would the business car then automatically become a Quiet Car -- or a non-Quiet Car? Either way, if there is only one Business Car in the consist, then some parties would not be able to get their desired "level" of service -- leading to possible court cases about "discrimination".
 
chakk said:
On Lincoln service trains, would the business car then automatically become a Quiet Car -- or a non-Quiet Car? Either way, if there is only one Business Car in the consist, then some parties would not be able to get their desired "level" of service -- leading to possible court cases about "discrimination".
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On the NEC the business car is not the quiet car. They are two different, seperate things. As far as a law suit goes, one of the great (?) things about our legal system in that anybody can sue pretty much anybody. Now how far it gets in the courts, before a judge 'dresses down' the plaintiff - and tosses the suit into the 'circular filing can' - is another matter.
 
Skim said:
Now with trains fuller and riders using more loud devices, Amtrak is starting to become a lower class service. Those of us who don't like to other people's music or excited passengers yelling across the aisles need another option if we're to remain loyal customers. I suspect many first time riders are put off by sitting through hours of this behavior. Enforcement would go a long way, but a quiet car would truly make the train relaxing again.
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I'm wondering, sadly, if it's that people are just becoming ruder, and more of the idea that "going out into the outside world is no different from me sitting on my couch at home."

I do my grocery shopping at 7 am on Saturday (as much as possible) to avoid coming into contact with the increasingly rude, pushy, and awful patrons of the local stores. The last time I tried clothes shopping "in person" (as opposed to ordering online), it was a frustrating experience. People yell to each other across the stores, they wear iPods with blaring headphones, they block aisles....

People don't know how to behave any more, I think. Which makes those of us who dislike noise and chaos even more likely to become hermits. Which means the loud rude people win.
 
Presumably, the BC car would remain as such, and a quiet car would be next to it. I've never traveled BC, but have been told it gets noisy when the cafe car fills up. (In Illinois and Missouri, BC is in the back half of the cafe car.)

On the downside, all traffic to and from the cafe car would run through the quiet car, but through traffic doesn't usually make much ruckus.
 
The Davy Crockett said:
chakk said:
On Lincoln service trains, would the business car then automatically become a Quiet Car -- or a non-Quiet Car? Either way, if there is only one Business Car in the consist, then some parties would not be able to get their desired "level" of service -- leading to possible court cases about "discrimination".
Click to expand...
On the NEC the business car is not the quiet car. They are two different, seperate things. As far as a law suit goes, one of the great (?) things about our legal system in that anybody can sue pretty much anybody. Now how far it gets in the courts, before a judge 'dresses down' the plaintiff - and tosses the suit into the 'circular filing can' - is another matter.
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This may clarify things for people unfamiliar with the distinctions.

The Quiet Car, in case you don’t know, is usually the first car in Amtrak’s coach section, right behind business class.
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The Quiet Ones
 
One of the things about the Quiet Car is that you almost need to have a long consist (six or seven cars at minimum) in order for it to work. Sure there are plenty of people who want to take advantage of the option, but there are plenty of people who don't. I personally tend to be on the front end of the train (either in BC or QC) when I'm on a Regional because I'm usually by myself, and I don't want the noise around me. But there's always power in numbers. Maybe when the bi-levels get delivered it may be feasible to have one of the lower level areas turned into a QC...
 
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