You can often get some insight into commuters based on where they wait for, and enter, the train to Grand Central when it arrives at Bronxville Station.
Gathering towards the southern end of the platform? Those are the Type A personalities – they want to be the first off the ramp and on their way once the train gets to the Terminal.
Alternatively, they may just be coming from the Village Proper side of town, arriving via the tunnel at the southernmost tip of the platform.
Those in the middle? A bit more laid back, or perhaps just late arrivals to the station. And those at the northern end, towards ? They typically work north of Grand Central – they’re jumping on the last cars, which will stop closest to the exits of Grand Central North.
But since Metro North added a quiet car, these generalizations have become even more muddied. The last car, at the northernmost end of the Bronxville Station platform during peak rush is now a “quiet car” – an experiment last year that the railroad decided to make permanent this year.
Some commuters swear by it – they’ll forgo their Grand Central exit point strategy to bask in the silence of the quiet car, but in our experience, most Bronxville commuters haven’t switched up their routines – it’s still all about location, location, location.
And for the most part, commutes on the weekdays are fairly quiet anyway. Typically the wildest crowds are pockets of commuting friends, like the . Sometimes, though, you get a , so the quiet car may increase in appeal after such an incident.
Let Patch save you time. Get great local stories just like this delivered right to your inbox or smartphone everyday with our free newsletter. Fast signup here.And our (experimental) experience has been mixed. While we’ve heard that conductors hand out “Shhh!” cards to abusers, we haven’t seen it. Signage is inconsistent – sometimes handwritten on the backs of advertising placards. And some commuters still talk amongst themselves (a definite violation on Amtrak’s quiet cars, but on Metro North, the focus is on cell phone usage).
A harried mother jumped on at Fleetwood the other day, with two hyper kids in tow, and promptly got on her cell phone – oblivious to the car’s special designation – everyone seemed to empathize, though, as they should have.
But after several trips on the quiet car, we’ll go back to the location strategy. Frankly, we enjoy hearing snippets of conversations, friendly chatter – it can make the ride more interesting and awakening, especially on a Monday morning.
What’s been your experience on the quiet cars? Have they made a difference to your commute?
