by KYW's Mike DeNardo

Shhhh! Septa now has "quiet cars" on some regional rail cars, where cell phone use is banned. 

The first car of each R5 train in the morning and in the evening are now quiet cars, where riders are not allowed to use cell phones.

Septa is running the pilot program for two months. This commuter was heading for the quiet car:

"Most of the time when I ride, all I hear is people yakking. I like to read the paper, or do some thing in the morning. All they do, I mean, the cell phones are going off all over the place, and I'd rather it be quiet."

But this rider says he wants to be able to answer his phone, so he won't be on the quiet car:

"I think it's fine to try it out, but I'm not really personally interested in it, because I'm not usually bothered by a little bit of noise. So I'd rather not be intimidated by being super-quiet."

Septa will evaluate rider feedback during the pilot, and then decide whether to expand the quiet car program.


(Photo by KYW's Mike DeNardo)