Mobiles to be banished from some train compartments

Ban to be extended in Intercity trains next year

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The Finnish rail operator VR will introduce so called "silent compartments" in trains. Mobiles will be banned in certain compartments of InterCity2 express trains from the beginning of next year.
      The IC2 trains have only double-decker carriages and they run between Jyväskylä and Helsinki via Tampere as well as on the run between Turku and Helsinki. The lower deck of the first carriages, or about 40 seats below the business class, will be designated mobile-free.
      The silent compartments will be indicated in timetables by a special sign that bans the use of mobile handsets.
      According to Camilla Ahlstrand of VR, many passengers have too loud phone conversations that disturb the privacy of fellow passengers.
     
The pilot project of mobile-free compartments on trains is a result of increasing feed-back from clients. Many passengers have been calling for mobile-free zones. On the other hand, opposite views have been expressed. In commuter traffic, many passengers like to work even when travelling.
      The use of mobile phones during rail journeys increased after VR and telephone operators improved the field strength of mobiles on trains about five years ago. Complaints about the use of mobile phones started right away.
     
For a few years, there have been special booths for mobile users on the upper deck of the double-decker IC2 coaches, but obviously it has not been enough.
      Furthermore, in certain express trains there are compartments with dim lights for snoozing, in which mobile phones are not allowed. These trains are in service in morning commuter traffic from Kouvola and Tampere to Helsinki for example.
     
VR plans to study the concept of the snoozing compartments again. Currently it is up to the conductor to dedicate a certain compartment for those wishing to extend their night's sleep on the way to work.
      The trial of mobile-free compartments will be launched on 9 January, and it will continue until the end of May. Whether the practice will be continued after May will be decided then.
      In order to see if mobile-free compartments are really needed, Ahlstrand is welcoming feedback from passengers. She nevertheless points out that regardless of the seat-number on his or her ticket a passenger may always change compartment if a fellow traveller's mobile phone is causing a disturbance.


Links:
  VR Group

Helsingin Sanomat