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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

I seem to have accidentally booked me and loud DCs in to a quiet carriage on a train!

67 replies

MammaTJ · 27/05/2014 21:22

WTF! I asked for a table, I asked for a power point, I most certainly did not ask for a quiet carriage!

We have a quiet carriage booked for on the way down. We are ok on the way home.

WTF do I do? I want seats, clearly, as I bothered to book them! I want seats together, preferably table seats but seats near each other would be ok.

So what do I do on the way down?

OP posts:

Jollyphonics · 27/05/2014 21:24

When is the journey? Can you change the booking?

mindthegap79 · 27/05/2014 21:26

Ring the train company. They always automatically seem to allocate seats in the quiet coach without asking.

DeWee · 27/05/2014 21:29

I've had that. One adult, 3 dc who thinks that's a sensible idea for the quiet carriage.

What I do is get on, if plenty of unreserved seats then sit elsewhere and apologise to the guard if he comes round.
If no spare seats take the seats you have in the quiet carriage, and apologise to the people near and explain you were given the seats. If the guard comes round ask if it's possible to do an exchange (saying you need to be together). About half the time they'll find you somewhere.

Original poster

MammaTJ · 27/05/2014 21:34

Tomorrow morning. I am going to chance it in a noisy carriage!

OP posts:

Kittykatmacbill · 27/05/2014 21:36

I live in constant fear of doing that!

Original poster

MammaTJ · 27/05/2014 21:36

My DC are 7 and 8, so we clearly need to be together.

I do not want to be the family talked about on here as being on a quiet carriage and having made no effort to be quiet. I know my DD, there is no Quiet!

OP posts:

Andrewofgg · 27/05/2014 21:36

If your DC make natural noise the others must suck it up .

But no noisy toys, in fact nothing electrical. Not even on headphones. Their phones and yours switched off and kept off. Then it is still the quiet coach.

AChickenCalledKorma · 27/05/2014 21:38

I've done that. It beats me why there is no option for "anywhere except the quiet carriage, please". Even if you don't have kids, surely some people actually want to be able to witter talk on their phones?

NorbertDentressangle · 27/05/2014 21:40

Have you considered sedating them

intheenddotcom · 27/05/2014 21:41

Should be fine if you keep the electronics on silent (or use earphones) and don't do too much loud talking. If find adults are the most annoying in quiet carriages anyway.

DreamingAboutFlying · 27/05/2014 21:41

It's crazy that online booking lets you specify that you want the quiet carriage, but not that you want anything BUT the quiet carriage. Even for people without kids, if you know you might need to receive a phone call for instance, you might want to deliberately avoid that one.

Lilaclily · 27/05/2014 21:42

It's half term
No one expects trains to be quiet in half term
I wouldn't worry at all

HemlockStarglimmer · 27/05/2014 21:56

We had a ten hour journey in the quiet coach a few years ago. There were other groups in that coach who were much noisier than our six year old.

No way were we going to tramp up and down the train looking for alternate seating when we had booked and had, through no fault of our own, been allocated those seats.

lessonsintightropes · 27/05/2014 21:58

Lilaclily erm yes they do! As someone who commutes 1200 miles per week by train and need to work and think on the quiet coach I confess I would be highly dismayed at sharing the carriage with chatty children, no matter how much I enjoy them in a different environment.

OP, thanks for your consideration of fellow passengers, hope you have a pleasant journey.

Original poster

MammaTJ · 27/05/2014 21:58

Norbert I frequently consider that as an option.

Lilaclily your spirit will be with me as I deal with my complainers!!

OP posts:

ClashCityRocker · 27/05/2014 22:02

I really wouldn't worry.

On every train journey I've been on, the 'quiet' carriage hasn't been particularly quiet anyway.

I believe the 'rules' are no electronic noisy devices, not no children.

You've paid for your ticket, you have every right to be there and I say this as someone who has just got back off a five hour train journey sat in front of a somewhat harassed looking mother and her three noisy, overexcited and overtired little angels.

Southeastdweller · 27/05/2014 22:04

Lily Wrong. Many of us book to avoid excessive noise for various reasons throughout the year...isn't that why they're called quiet carriages?

Good luck changing your tix, OP.

BerniceBroadside · 27/05/2014 22:11

I got allocated the quiet coach with a child at the weekend. It was fine, the adults were fair noisier than the children on board.

But yes, there should be an option to have anything but the bloody quiet carriage.

ProudAS · 27/05/2014 22:23

Do encourage them to be considerate of other passengers (not a bad idea whichever coach you're in).

However, as someone who is hypersensitive to noise I can't say that I've ever really been bothered by children on trains. Some adults are far worse (no we don't want to listen to swing low sweet chariot AND put up with smoking on a non smoking train for two hours).

Original poster

MammaTJ · 28/05/2014 06:33

Of course I will encourage them to be considerate.

They have in their back packs a selection of new colouring books, puzzle books etc. They are very excited about travelling by train for the first time, visiting my uni and meeting my closest uni friend (who is looking after them while I see my personal tutor).

OP posts:

OnIlkleyMoorBahTwat · 28/05/2014 06:48

I booked a train ticket online for the first time ever the other day . It asked me if I wanted the quiet carriage and I said yes.

So if you say no, do they say, well fuck it, you're going in there anyway .

I would try and change so you don't get stressed going 'ssssshhhh' for the entire journey, or do you worry that they can't go a couple of hours without making self important phone calls to their clients and PAs telling them that the sale price is £1M not £1.5M, that the defence is that the cat told him to do it and that she should tell Bob that he isn't to come in on Monday because he has been fired, all while swearing every time the train goes into a tunnel and the call gets cut off .

ikeaismylocal · 28/05/2014 06:49

I traveled on a train from Edinburgh to Cornwall with a 5year old, We watched DVDs with headphones ( very quietly, I checked and you couldn't hear the music) I thought it was better to break the no electronics rule but do it quietly than have a chatting, singing wiggly 5 year old for 11 hours.

Absolutely stupid that they book child tickets into the quiet carriage.

MamaLazarou · 28/05/2014 08:18

YANBU, just ask them to be quiet and considerate for a couple of hours. My son is 4 and we often travel in quiet carriages. People don't expect absolute silence.

Meloria · 28/05/2014 08:22

The rule isn't no electronics. It's electronics on silent or with headphones quiet enough you can't hear what's being played. No one minds sitting next to someone with their phone on silent or listening to an iPod quietly.

For the love of god make sure your keytones are off though. I nearly killed a woman once for texting for five hours solid with keytones on.

listsandbudgets · 28/05/2014 08:33

We got allocated the quiet carriage during the Easter school holidays. We'd specified exactly the same as you OP - table etc. What we got was 3 seats - all on the aisle. Two in the same row and one behind. It was awful to be honest. Thankfully a lady swapped with me so I could sit next to DS 21 months (I'd booked and paid for a seat for him as he is a real wriggler and there's no way I could have coped with him on my lap for 5 hours). Other customers were NOT happy. One complained to me then went and found the guard who backed us up on the matter explaining it was the school holidays the trains were crowded and we weren't breaking any quiet carriage rules as no phones etc. were being used. He moved man instead I think to first class

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