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Rail News Home Passenger Rail

7/16/2010



Rail News: Passenger Rail

NJ Transit to test quiet cars on commuter trains


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NJ Transit will conduct a 90-day pilot program to test the feasibility of offering "quiet commute" cars on its trains.

Beginning Sept. 7, the agency will offer quiet commute cars weekdays on the first and last cars of Northeast Corridor express trains in the 3900 series, which operate to and from stations in Trenton, Hamilton and Princeton Junction.

Quiet commute cars are intended to provide a “subdued environment” for customers who wish to refrain from using cell phones and are willing to disable the sound feature on pagers, games, computers and other electronic devices, NJ Transit officials said in a prepared statement. Riders in quiet cars will be asked to conduct conversations in subdued voices and to use headphones at a volume that cannot be heard by other passengers.

The quiet car was first used in late 1999 on a Philadelphia-to-Washington, D.C., Amtrak train when a group of commuters asked the conductor if one car could be designated cell phone free. Amtrak expanded the concept and within months, most weekday Amtrak trains on the Northeast Corridor featured quiet cars, according to the press release.