Does the piercing sound of Beethoven's 5th emanating from a cell phone make you want to scream? Well, Amtrak has some good news: all weekend Acela Express departures now feature Quiet Cars.
The Quiet Car is one car of an Amtrak train designated as a sanctuary from the beeps, tones and rings of modern life where passengers can relax or work quietly without distractions. Passengers are asked to refrain from using cell phones, pagers or any other noise-generating electronic device while inside the car. Conversations should be kept to a minimum and conducted only in the most subdued tones.
"Acela Express is the preferred choice of business travelers because they have unlimited use of their cell phones and other electronic devices," said Barbara Richardson, Amtrak vice president of Marketing and Sales. "Quiet Cars are Amtrak's way of brokering a peaceful coexistence between cell phone users and lovers of peace and quiet aboard our trains."
The Quiet Car concept, now a registered trademark of Amtrak, was born in late 1999 when a small group of regular passengers asked their conductor if one car of their early morning Philadelphia-Washington train could be designated as "cell phone-free." The conductor agreed and, an Amtrak manager soon began pushing for an expansion of the concept. Within months, virtually all weekday trains on the Northeast Corridor – Acela Express, Metroliners, and Regionals – began featuring Quiet Cars.
