Now I've seen it all on Amtrak
 

Couple with screaming infant gets on the Quiet Car at WAS (first stop, so plenty of other cars available). Elderly couple points it out. Parents say tough luck.

Elderly couple mentions it to conductor, and conductor tells them if they don't like it, THEY can move. So these elderly people--the man walking with a cane--are made to get up and move from the last row to the first to get away from the noise.

In the Quiet Car. You have got to be kidding me. Parents show no remorse and refuse to budge, while these old, disabled people are made to move instead of them.

Please file a complaint with Amtrak with all the details so they can get the conductor retrained (maybe there's an LSR position open). If they are not going to enforce the Quiet Car rules, why have one? I do have sympathy for parent with crying children, but when the are accommodations for them, they should use them.

Send a note to Amtrak. Make a point of saying that the Quiet Car is what draws you to the route.

That is absolutely terrible, and agreed you should let Amtrak know. My experience--at least on Acela--is that the conductors would very zealously enforce quiet in the quiet car. (Although I've only been in the First Class car in the last few years.)

He was eventually shamed by a few of us making snarky comments into telling the parents--who again, showed NO remorse--they had to move. This was after two elderly, disabled people had to carry their stuff to the front of a moving train. I looked up and saw the lady carrying something and got up to ask if I could help them carry something, and that's when she told me the conductor had decided to tell the parents to move.

I'm sorry, but they could have sat anywhere. They had many other cars to choose from, as they were given priority boarding status because of the child, and they got on at the first stop. And I'm sure they'll be complaining on social media and to Amtrak that they were victimized. NO. The Quiet Car, like the First Class car, has rules. If you don't follow them--like if you don't have a first-class ticket--you should be asked to leave. You should not have sat there to begin with. You had the rest of the train to choose from except for Business Class.

It was a disgrace to see this conductor make these elderly people move instead of moving the offenders. I'm still angry about it.

This type of thing happens all the time on planes where the noise of the engines is too much for the baby, only they can't change seats. Just wonder how often the OP has experienced *that*.

To me, a quiet car means no boom boxes or cell phones.

Bob H

... or loud talking, drumming on the table/seats, singing to the song on your phone/ipod/etc, or tap dancing in the aisle.

Quiet seems to be the operative word here. WHEN there is an option of other seating, the one making the noise should be the one to move. Not people that are being quiet.

I hope the OP comes back and updates us on reporting this and any response received.

Quiet Car (from nationwide timetable):

"Guests are asked to limit conversation and speak in subdued tones. Phone calls are not allowed and all portable electronic devices must be muted or used with headphones (passengers using headphones must keep the volume low enough so that the audio cannot be heard by other passengers.) Low overhead lighting creates a restful atmosphere for all passengers, but reading lights are available.

Seating in the Quiet Car is on a first-come, first-served basis and cannot be reserved. There is no additional charge to sit in the Quiet Car, but passengers are asked to occupy only one seat per person. Please do not use adjacent seat space for personal belongings. Passengers who board trains and find that seats are only available in the Quiet Car must follow the Quiet Car guidelines."

Sounds like a letter with details to Amtrak is in order. Daze

Then don't take the train? If you do take the train and do sit in the quiet car please be quiet. If that simple request is to much to fathom I fully support immediate eviction.

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry: BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.1030 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

Perhaps Amtrak needs to modify its published Quiet Car guidelines to specify whether babies in general -- or crying babies in particular -- are to be excluded from the Quiet Car. (It's at least arguable that a crying baby does not violate the current published guidelines.)

I can understand why parents traveling with an infant would want to ride in the Quiet Car: the baby might be more likely to fall asleep -- and stop crying -- in a quiet atmosphere.

On Acela, the conductors generally state as part of their PA announcement to the quiet car: "Please maintain a library-like atmosphere." I think if you were in a library with a crying baby, they'd ask you to leave.

Here's my "interesting" quiet car anecdote: Years ago I was in the Acela quiet car on the way to DC, and we stopped in the middle of nowhere in Maryland. The conductors came on the PA and said something about the stabilizers or whatever needing adjustment, and we could be delayed 45-60 minutes. So everyone is maintaining the quiet atmosphere, and this one woman whips out her cell phone and starts shouting into it to whomever was on the other end about the delay, and what arrangements need to be made, etc. So someone goes, "Excuse me. This is the quiet car. Could you please go in the vestibule to talk on the phone?" She started to try to argue, and then tons of people in the car started "SHHHHH! SHHHHH!" shushing her. She went back to the vestibule. I guess the IRROPS gave her the idea that all rules were suspended!

I reached out to Amtrak via social media a few times yesterday and they ignored me. And yes... the Quiet Car rules most definitely exclude screaming, no matter who's doing it. If you can't talk even quietly on a cellphone, you certainly can't scream.

It's like any other kind of noise--if you need to make it and just can't help it, fine. It happens, Just don't sit in the Quiet Car. That is not a difficult concept to grasp. They were given priority boarding. They had their choice of every other car with the exception of the first one. They chose the car with rules they could not abide by, while elderly, disabled people following those rules were made to move so the rule breakers could continue to break the rules and disturb the entire car. There is no way in the world to twist this to make the rule breakers the victims.

If you don't like or for some reason can't follow the rules of the car you're sitting in, don't sit there. It couldn't be more simple than that.

Don't wait for the social media team to step up. Send an email to Amtrak with the specifics and let them know. The social media team is a marketing department and cherry pick the issues they want to address.

This is actually pretty great.

http://fortune.com/2014/09/17/amtrak-quiet-car/

The quiet car is usually hit or miss on NE Corridor! The conductor may make announcements but rarely enforces the rules. To me it's more of a honor system where the responsibility lies with the patrons.

In this case the parents have to blame...again a reminder that there will always be annoying folks you meet everyday.

My guess is that although the conductor could have asked them to leave and if they refused call the police at the next station, he preferred to just stay quiet for the kid situation. Unfortunately the elderly folks had to bear the inconvenience. A complete lose-lose situation due to the attitude of the parents.