The high-speed rail’s new quiet carriage policy has sparked concern over children disturbing other passengers, prompting Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chen Ching-hui (陳菁徽) to call on relevant ministries to devise more flexible measures within a month.
Under the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp’s (THSRC) new policy, passengers must switch their mobile phones to silent, use headphones when watching videos or listening to music, and only make phone calls in gangways.
Although the THSRC said that the policy does not restrict children and those with special circumstances, parents said they worry that fussy children would draw increased attention from other passengers.
Photo courtesy of Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp
Chen said that since this policy was launched, the THSRC has stated that if children make noise or disturb other passengers, they would help soothe them and offer small treats.
Children can only express their needs through crying, so just soothing them is not enough, Chen said.
Staff approaching crying children would only draw attention from other passengers and label the family as causing a disturbance, she said.
Chen called on the Ministry of Health and Welfare to work with the Ministry of Transportation and Communications to devise more flexible measures within a month.
Minister of Health and Welfare Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said his ministry last month asked the transport ministry to supervise the THSRC in addressing the controversy and would continue to monitor the situation.
The THSRC on Thursday last week said that from Sept. 22 to Wednesday last week, staff made a total of 13,000 reminders to passengers about quiet carriage rules, averaging fewer than five reminders per train.
More than 70 percent of these instances involved passengers talking on their phone or playing sounds aloud, it said.
According to the company’s data, 49 percent involved passengers talking on their phone, 24 percent involved passengers watching videos or listening to music without headphones, and 27 percent involved people chatting loudly enough to disturb other passengers.
Cases involving infants and children were extremely rare, THSRC said.
This shows that most noise during travel can be controlled through passengers’ own consideration and self-discipline, it said.
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