Silence is gold in China railway pilot project

Passengers can travel in “quiet carriages” on some of China’s high-speed trains beginning tomorrow in a pilot project on the Shanghai-Beijing and Chengdu-Chongqing routes, railway officials said today.

One carriage on each railway line, usually the No. 3, will be designated “quiet.”

Passengers can buy tickets on quiet carriages on 12306.com — the official ticketing website of China’s National Railway Administration — its mobile phone app and other self-help ticketing machines.

Travelers in quiet carriages are advised to be quiet, refrain from using loudspeakers and turn their mobile phones to vibrate. If passengers must talk on their phones, they are encouraged to move to other carriages.

It's unclear whether law enforcement officers will enforce rules.

People talking on their phones and using loudspeakers have long been a nuisance for travelers. While some praised the initiative, others said the rules might encourage passengers in other carriages to make more noise.

A regulation banning loudspeakers has been implemented recently in Shanghai’s Metro trains.