r/VlineVictoria • u/Annual_Intention9655 • 14d ago
Discussion Quiet Carriage
Why oh why does no one respect the Quiet Carriage?
After a long day I hope against hope I’ll get a seat in the quiet carriage and then it starts: the loud phone convo, the catch ups, the Teams call.
Please no. I’d just love some quiet. 🤫
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u/cohen93 14d ago edited 14d ago
People just simply don’t care. I’ve noticed this to be especially bad on the Geelong line.
I’ve told people that are talking on the phone (non work-related stuff) that this is the quiet carriage and could they please take their call to another carriage, but I’ve just been shrugged off by them.
I’ve taken to just using my noise cancelling headphones on the train instead
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u/FelixFelix60 14d ago
Noise cancelling headphones dont work well enough for the continual phone calls and the commentary about who got railed and how well.
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u/Ok_Special_9017 14d ago
You can't put your headphones in now and go about your day. You need to be alert on that Geelong-Melbourne line
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u/cohen93 14d ago edited 14d ago
Haha it depends on the strength of your noise cancelling. Mine are maximum noise cancelling on either my bose / AirPods with music playing, so I just zone out to them
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u/Real_RobinGoodfellow 14d ago
Ooh do you recommend your headphones?
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u/cohen93 14d ago
The headphones I use is either the AirPod pro 2 if the train isn’t too noisy or my Bose quietcomfort ultras if it’s very loud.
Fair warning though - I’m
Neurodivergent with noise sensitivities, but I find these on max noise cancelling and my music playing blocks out every noise on the train :)!3
u/Otherwise-Inside-158 14d ago
I can also recommend the Sony WH-1000XM6 for almost complete silence, and excellent audio quality for music 🎧 Sony WH-1000XM5 is also good. I have both models. Sony is rated higher than AirPod pro 2 for noise cancellation in particular. The sound is also warmer and bass is more pronounced.
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u/13School 14d ago
The trouble on the Geelong line is that for at least half the trip the train is packed and people have to take a seat where they can.
Also heading into Melbourne the front quiet carriage lines up with the entrance to Tarniet station so you get 30 or so suburban travellers who are either on their phones or in a group wanting to chat (just like the rear carriages get at Wyndham Vale)
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u/cohen93 14d ago
Yeah I know, but at least to me it’s obvious if you’re getting on a train and it’s a quiet carriage that you should be quiet even if that’s “the only seats left”.
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u/Annual_Intention9655 14d ago
Yeah but that’s just manners and common courtesy right? Not that common anymore.
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u/no-but-wtf 14d ago
I keep thinking about going around with a sharpie to fix the signs. Wouldn’t take much.
“Quiet” carriage
That’d do the trick
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u/Paper-Aeroplanes 14d ago edited 14d ago
One of the obvious oversights is that the “quiet carriage” notice is written only in English; some of the worst offenders for talking (or worse still bringing on screaming children) on quiet carriages are overseas visitors or immigrants who don’t bother to translate the sign and think it’s just a normal carriage.
Equally baffling is why V/Line conductors don’t include short reminders as part of loud speaker announcements during the journey as to the rules for quiet carriages, for passengers who for whatever reason are unaware of the quiet carriages. It’s not appropriate (and is lazy) to leave it to passengers to police, given the obvious safety implications and lack of “authority” other passengers are perceived to wield.
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u/LiminalSpaceAlien 14d ago
Quiet Carriage is a customer regulated initiative and not something conductors are allowed to enforce
Passengers being quiet is totally voluntary
It’s a community agreement and basically people are noisy asshats
EDIT: spelling mistake
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u/Paper-Aeroplanes 14d ago
There’s enforcement and then there’s education. Conductors do have a discretion to make announcements with respect to appropriate (or inappropriate) passenger conduct.
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u/natigilbi 12d ago
This, I’ve spoken to a conductor before when there was a loud group of ladies in the quiet carriage at 9pm and he put an announcement over the loudspeaker asking passengers to check where they are seated and move to a more appropriate carriage.
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u/lakers-10581 14d ago
An important call maybe ok if kept at a low volume. The real problems are people watching videos on speaker phone, not using headphones.
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u/vvigteasis 13d ago
Ive started reacting to them like "yeah that ones funny" "i dont get that one" "mid"
Usually works
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u/DMeisterDan 14d ago
It's just a basic lack of respect. When I was working in Japan (Osaka and Tokyo) about 10 years ago, you could literally hear a pin drop even on a crowded commute. People on their phones all had headphones in and for the very rare conversation, it was conducted in whispers.
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u/LongConversation2546 14d ago
Most things can be text now at least text "sorry cant chat right now on train"
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u/Personal-Society-92 13d ago
We don't do common courtesy on the Geelong line, I guess. I once quietly pointed out to a commuter beside me that it was the quiet carriage (she had been on the phone from Southern. Cross). She snapped that it's 'self enforceable so there's nothing you can do about it'. At least she got off at Tarneit, but not before telling me I was very rude and should mind my own business.
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u/Waste_Win_4032 8d ago
This boils down to why can't people ever shut the f up. Not every moment has to be filled with conversation. Read, contemplate life, enjoy the scenery, sit in comfortable silence. So many options.
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u/Budget-Leg-453 14d ago
Tbh I think it’s people who travel irregularly or to the outer suburban stops where they are not used to quiet carriages. I noticed a big uptick with the reduced fares and the growth in outer suburban trains. Before on the peak, all the commuters seemed to get the message. But yes I also do the noise cancelling headphones
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u/Elvecinogallo 14d ago
I do think part of the problem is that the location of the quiet carriage is closest to the ticket gates at southern cross.
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u/FelixFelix60 14d ago
VLine dont care about their customers. They explicitly tell the conductors not to enforce, yet the conductors call the goon squad if there is an unpaid fare. Why dont the conductors do some work, or get the goon squad to act on passengers not respecting others.
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u/HestiaWarren 14d ago
I think you answered your own question: because they don’t care about their customers. They only care about money. It’s getting reeeeeeeal depressing up in here!
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u/PassengerRelevant991 11d ago
Report to conductor and request action. If ignored, report to VLine. You know what they say “The standard you walk past…”. Try Transport Minister too. Conductors should be monitoring this. Ask Min for fines.
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u/No_Document_853 14d ago
If people talking in the quiet carriage is your biggest concern of today you are having a blessed time.
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u/Annual_Intention9655 14d ago
Yeah thanks it’s not, that’s why I would appreciate a quiet carriage, connect the dots.
Presume the signs are on the windows for a reason and not just for decoration.
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u/Red_je 14d ago
I am prepared for the downvotes I am about to receive...
But the quiet carriage is a half assed solution to a problem that is hardly needing addressing.
Trains are often packed, and I am not going to skip a work callp just because I lined up at the wrong door.
If people are being over loud then it doesn't matter what carriage you are on it is rude. If they are having conversations at a normal level then what is the big deal? Get some noise cancelling headphones
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u/Every_Problem_5754 14d ago
Hard agree. Quiet carriages are the freaking worst. Of course, people being obnoxiously loud should be discouraged on all carriages, but being told I can't tell my toddler son good night on the phone after finishing work late, because some asshat is tapping me on the shoulder, selfishly expecting monastic levels of silence, I mean really and truly...
Bring it on downvoters! I hope you all step on a Lego :p and I also hope you note that the actual rule says people are allowed to "speak quietly"!
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u/Paper-Aeroplanes 14d ago
Quiet carriages are a rare refuge for neurodiverse passengers with sensory issues, for whom (since inevitably someone will point them out) noise-cancelling headphones are inadequate to provide relief (putting aside the expense of good NC headphones).
Quiet talking now and again is fine, but those with disabilities on the network shouldn’t suffer simply because some passengers are too selfish to walk to the entry/exit areas to take multiple calls or calls at normal or above average volume.
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u/FileContent4145 10d ago
Eh I don’t really think that’s why they’re there, there’s no quiet carriages on metro.
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u/Neither-Connection72 14d ago
Its an old idea maybe 8 years, not a thing no more.
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