On Train, a Fight Between Silent and Merely Quiet
By VINCENT M. MALLOZZI
MATAWAN, N.J. — Last Monday morning, Robert Arbeeny and two friends boarded a train bound for Manhattan and began chatting about the holidays.
“Excuse me,” said the woman sitting across from them, raising her reading glasses, and then her voice. “This is the quiet car.”
Mr. Arbeeny apologized and began whispering, which caused further agitation. The woman put down her book and summoned a conductor.
“They are not supposed to be talking,” she said, wagging her index finger at the group.
The conductor tried stepping quietly between both parties.
“They do have a right to talk,” he said in a soft voice, “they just have to speak in a very quiet manner.”
As other passengers began looking on, the woman shot back: “What kind of sense does that make! Why would you allow them to have a sustained conversation in a quiet car, and why are you taking their side over mine!”
Similar scenes have been playing out since last Monday, when New Jersey Transit expanded its so-called quiet commute program — with the first and last cars designated as quiet during weekday peak-hour trains — on many of its highly traveled lines.
As a result, a yearning for quiet has sparked an inevitable war of very loud words. The quiet cars have now become some of the noisiest, as passengers trying to read or sleep are constantly hushing and shushing others.
Caught in the cross-fire are the conductors, who are acting as referees, trying to explain the new rules to passengers on both sides of the “quiet” platform. All conductors have been told to issue business cards to noisy passengers in much the same way that soccer referees issue yellow or red conduct cards to unruly players. The cards show a hand with an extended index finger placed over a pair of bright red lips, with the words “Quiet Commute” written underneath.
The rules for the quiet cars ask riders to refrain from cellphone use, disable the sound on laptops and other devices, and maintain low volume on headphones.
New Jersey Transit’s literature concerning the quiet cars, which has been available on trains for the past week, states that “conversations should be conducted in subdued voices,” but many riders are demanding complete silence.
“I think the whole concept of quiet cars is ridiculous,” said Mr. Arbeeny, 44, of Manalapan, N.J. “People are going to talk, it’s human nature. Many passengers, like the woman who told me to be quiet, are misinterpreting the new rules, and it is having the reverse effect in the quiet cars, creating tension instead of quiet.”
Patrick F. Reilly, the chairman of the United Transportation Union Local 60, which represents New Jersey Transit’s conductors, said Wednesday that the sounds of angry silence in the quiet cars would surely dissipate as passengers settled into more chat-free routines.
“Like anything else that’s new, this will take some time to get used to,” Mr. Reilly said. “Give it some time.”
By Thursday, that time had not yet arrived.
Annemarie Whitney, a 30-year-old accountant from Manalapan who works in Brooklyn, was sitting in a quiet car watching as fellow passengers angrily stared down a man talking on his cellphone. A nearby conductor who was made aware of the situation by several passengers reached into his pocket for a quiet card, but the man hung up before it could be delivered.
“Cellphones are one thing, but people are getting the wrong impression about these cars,” Ms. Whitney said. “They are quiet cars, not silent cars. Subdued and silent are two different words, and as long as there are misconceptions out here, there are going to be disputes.”
And bizarre requests.
On Friday, one passenger asked a conductor if he could disable the automated announcements, which inform riders of impending stops, as well as the conductor’s work radio, which he needed to stay in contact with the train’s engineer. “It’s unnecessary noise,” the passenger said.
The conductor gave the passenger the silent treatment, moving away from him and whispering to no one in particular, “Why don’t I just get this guy a pair of pajamas and a pillow.”
Dan Stessel, a spokesman for New Jersey Transit, said that he had not received any customer complaints and that “the overall response across the board, as it relates to quiet commuting, has been overwhelmingly positive.”
Quiet cars were introduced in September as part of a three-month pilot program on 29 express trains running between Trenton and Manhattan. (Amtrak began using quiet cars in 1999.) The quiet cars are now on all New Jersey Transit weekday trains arriving in New York between 6 and 10 a.m. and departing New York between 4 and 8 p.m.
“Many people have had the same commuting patterns for years, and this does require some adaptation on their part in terms of behavior and possibly shifting around to other areas of the train,” Mr. Stessel added. “Two weeks after we started this project in September, everybody was with the program.”
Steven Heite, a 48-year-old brokerage professional from Matawan who works in Manhattan and occasionally rides in the quiet cars, said New Jersey Transit should not have the authority to dictate such behavior.
“Legislating behavior policy to people who pay monthly ticket fees and often deal with train delays is not a very good idea,” Mr. Heite said. “These are not rowdy train-riders returning from ballgames, but hard-working professionals trying to earn a living.
“That being said,” he added, “if a particular car is too loud or intrusive, you can always move to another car.”
By VINCENT M. MALLOZZI
MATAWAN, N.J. — Last Monday morning, Robert Arbeeny and two friends boarded a train bound for Manhattan and began chatting about the holidays.
“Excuse me,” said the woman sitting across from them, raising her reading glasses, and then her voice. “This is the quiet car.”
Mr. Arbeeny apologized and began whispering, which caused further agitation. The woman put down her book and summoned a conductor.
“They are not supposed to be talking,” she said, wagging her index finger at the group.
The conductor tried stepping quietly between both parties.
“They do have a right to talk,” he said in a soft voice, “they just have to speak in a very quiet manner.”
As other passengers began looking on, the woman shot back: “What kind of sense does that make! Why would you allow them to have a sustained conversation in a quiet car, and why are you taking their side over mine!”
Similar scenes have been playing out since last Monday, when New Jersey Transit expanded its so-called quiet commute program — with the first and last cars designated as quiet during weekday peak-hour trains — on many of its highly traveled lines.
As a result, a yearning for quiet has sparked an inevitable war of very loud words. The quiet cars have now become some of the noisiest, as passengers trying to read or sleep are constantly hushing and shushing others.
Caught in the cross-fire are the conductors, who are acting as referees, trying to explain the new rules to passengers on both sides of the “quiet” platform. All conductors have been told to issue business cards to noisy passengers in much the same way that soccer referees issue yellow or red conduct cards to unruly players. The cards show a hand with an extended index finger placed over a pair of bright red lips, with the words “Quiet Commute” written underneath.
The rules for the quiet cars ask riders to refrain from cellphone use, disable the sound on laptops and other devices, and maintain low volume on headphones.
New Jersey Transit’s literature concerning the quiet cars, which has been available on trains for the past week, states that “conversations should be conducted in subdued voices,” but many riders are demanding complete silence.
“I think the whole concept of quiet cars is ridiculous,” said Mr. Arbeeny, 44, of Manalapan, N.J. “People are going to talk, it’s human nature. Many passengers, like the woman who told me to be quiet, are misinterpreting the new rules, and it is having the reverse effect in the quiet cars, creating tension instead of quiet.”
Patrick F. Reilly, the chairman of the United Transportation Union Local 60, which represents New Jersey Transit’s conductors, said Wednesday that the sounds of angry silence in the quiet cars would surely dissipate as passengers settled into more chat-free routines.
“Like anything else that’s new, this will take some time to get used to,” Mr. Reilly said. “Give it some time.”
By Thursday, that time had not yet arrived.
Annemarie Whitney, a 30-year-old accountant from Manalapan who works in Brooklyn, was sitting in a quiet car watching as fellow passengers angrily stared down a man talking on his cellphone. A nearby conductor who was made aware of the situation by several passengers reached into his pocket for a quiet card, but the man hung up before it could be delivered.
“Cellphones are one thing, but people are getting the wrong impression about these cars,” Ms. Whitney said. “They are quiet cars, not silent cars. Subdued and silent are two different words, and as long as there are misconceptions out here, there are going to be disputes.”
And bizarre requests.
On Friday, one passenger asked a conductor if he could disable the automated announcements, which inform riders of impending stops, as well as the conductor’s work radio, which he needed to stay in contact with the train’s engineer. “It’s unnecessary noise,” the passenger said.
The conductor gave the passenger the silent treatment, moving away from him and whispering to no one in particular, “Why don’t I just get this guy a pair of pajamas and a pillow.”
Dan Stessel, a spokesman for New Jersey Transit, said that he had not received any customer complaints and that “the overall response across the board, as it relates to quiet commuting, has been overwhelmingly positive.”
Quiet cars were introduced in September as part of a three-month pilot program on 29 express trains running between Trenton and Manhattan. (Amtrak began using quiet cars in 1999.) The quiet cars are now on all New Jersey Transit weekday trains arriving in New York between 6 and 10 a.m. and departing New York between 4 and 8 p.m.
“Many people have had the same commuting patterns for years, and this does require some adaptation on their part in terms of behavior and possibly shifting around to other areas of the train,” Mr. Stessel added. “Two weeks after we started this project in September, everybody was with the program.”
Steven Heite, a 48-year-old brokerage professional from Matawan who works in Manhattan and occasionally rides in the quiet cars, said New Jersey Transit should not have the authority to dictate such behavior.
“Legislating behavior policy to people who pay monthly ticket fees and often deal with train delays is not a very good idea,” Mr. Heite said. “These are not rowdy train-riders returning from ballgames, but hard-working professionals trying to earn a living.
“That being said,” he added, “if a particular car is too loud or intrusive, you can always move to another car.”
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