China’s High-speed Rail Pilot “Silent Carriage”

Yesterday, this newspaper reported that the railway department will pilot the “silent carriage” service on some trains of the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed rail and Chengdu-Chongqing high-speed rail starting today. Yesterday morning, a reporter from Beijing Youth Daily went to Beijing South Railway Station to explore the “silent car” of the high-speed rail in advance. According to the railway department, “Silent Cars” will introduce a number of silent services, including turning off the sound of entertainment facilities on the train, providing service guides, and providing full service without interruption. For repeated dissuasion of ineffective non-silent behavior, it may be included in the credit management of railway passenger transportation.

Optional “Silent Car” when purchasing tickets

Yesterday, a reporter from Beijing Youth Daily logged into the railway 12306 mobile app and tried to buy tickets for the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed rail G1 train on the 24th. Before submitting the order, in addition to the traditional “seat selection option”, the system also prompts that the train has a “silent carriage”. After clicking “please assign me a seat in the’silent car’ first”, the system will assign the seat to car 3 if the conditions are met. If the remaining seats cannot meet the demand, the system will automatically allocate seats to passengers.
After clicking the “Silent Car” prompt, the system will automatically pop up 5 “silent” agreements, including keeping quiet in the “Silent Car”, wearing earphones when using various electronic devices or turning off the external sound source function, and turning the phone to silent Or vibration state, leaving the “silent car” when making a phone call or talking to each other. For passengers traveling with children, they are reminded to take care of the children and avoid making noise. In addition, the system also specially reminds: passengers with infants are not recommended to buy “silent carriages”.
It is worth mentioning that the ticket purchase fee will not increase after choosing the “silent car” priority.

Multiple “silent services” will be launched

Sun Xiaoying, secretary of the general branch of the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed rail second team, told the Beijing Youth Daily that the No. 3 “silent car” on the G1 train will be opened next to the first-class and business seats. After the “Silent Car” is officially launched today, passengers will enjoy a number of silent services.
First of all, a “silent car” reminder sign and a service reminder card will be installed in the carriage to facilitate passengers to understand their location and the services they can enjoy. Secondly, the conductor will turn off the sound (television) of the entertainment system on the train, only keep necessary broadcasts and lower the broadcast volume to meet the normal riding needs of passengers. In addition, when the train is running, the conductor will close the electric doors at both ends of the “silent car” to isolate the noise at the windshield connection.
In terms of service, the “silent car” provides uninterrupted services for passengers throughout the entire journey. The conductor does not pass through the car as much as possible, and will pass quietly and as soon as possible when necessary. At the same time, the “Silent Car” also provides a service guide for passengers. The location of the toilets and electric tea stoves in the car are clear at a glance, and passengers do not need to ask someone to ask. In addition, each seat also has a QR code affixed to it. Passengers can order meals by scanning the code and enjoy meals without leaving their seats.

Those who have been persuaded repeatedly to be “blacklisted”

How will the railway department deal with non-silent behaviors such as making and making phone calls in a “silent car” and opening mobile phones outside? In this regard, Sun Xiaoying said that the conductor will provide a soft voice service to guide passengers to the car connection to answer and make calls. For repeated dissuasion of ineffective non-silent behavior, it may be included in the credit management of railway passenger transportation.
For the “silent car” service of the high-speed rail, Mr. Li, a passenger who is about to take the G1 train, expressed his support: “We often travel on business and catch the early or late trains. Sometimes, we will catch some sleep on the train and encounter loud noises. You can only put on earplugs when you make noises and use your mobile phone to put it out. After the silent car is launched, it will provide a quiet environment for passengers who need to rest.”