PATCO: ‘Peer pressure’ will keep train cars quiet

PATCO rail commuters will soon have their own "quiet car."

Following the lead of Amtrak, SEPTA and other transit agencies that have prohibited cellphone use or loud conversation in one train car, PATCO will designate the last car in each of its train as a quiet car on weekdays, starting March 1.

The quiet-car experiment will last three months, and if it is well received, the designation will be made permanent, PATCO general manager John Rink said Wednesday.

The program will be announced with placards on trains and in stations, and PATCO has produced a 90-second video for its Web site about courteous behavior on trains.

To make the program work, PATCO spokesman Tim Ireland said "we'd be relying on passenger peer pressure to keep the car quiet." He said PATCO police occasionally would ride the trains and could help enforce the rule.

   - Paul Nussbaum