Silence is golden – but is the railway’s quiet zone on its way out? | Joel Snape

Even the train conductors seem to have given up trying to enforce the rules. With antisocial noise increasing everywhere, let’s save our serenity

Is there a better place in the world to work than the quiet coach? I’m going to say it: there is not. Between an ever-shifting view of the English countryside, wifi too patchy to do any serious procrastinating, and the perfect amount of access to tea, it’s my own little version of productivity paradise. Biohackers can have their standing desks, Superman can keep his fortress of solitude – I just need a window seat and a power socket.

Or at least, I did. Because these days, the last bastion of silence that public transport’s supposed to afford seems to be under threat. Even the train conductors seem to have given up on it. “Please try to keep the noise to a minimum,” they murmur over the intercom, like beleaguered supply teachers. “Or, I don’t know, at least don’t let your child watch Thor: Ragnarok at full volume.”

Joel Snape is a writer and fitness expert

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/1kUiXFK