Metro-North Expanding Quiet Car Program

NEW YORK (AP / CBSNewYork) - Metro-North Railroad says its experiment with "quiet cars'' is so popular that the program will be expanded to all rush-hour trains next month.

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The railroad says the last car on all morning trains and the first car on all evening trains will be designated as quiet cars.

"If you want to sleep or read or just not be bothered, head to the last car on your train in the morning and the first car in the afternoon," spokesperson Margie Anders said Tuesday.

That means cellphones, music players and other electronic devices will be prohibited unless they can be operated quietly. Headphones will have to be at a volume that cannot be heard by others. Conversation must be subdued.

"Things that have audio, you have to use an earplug and the volume has to be turned down so much that it doesn't bleed out and bother other people. But the quiet car does not ban electronic devices. It just asks that you use them very quietly," said Anders.

Quiet cars started as a pilot program last fall. Metro-North says riders who were surveyed overwhelmingly support the program.

The program is voluntary but conductors will issue "Shh!'' cards to customers who are too loud.

Metro-North serves the suburbs north of New York City and all the way into Connecticut.

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