IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/rmobxx/v12y2017i5p740-757.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

‘Super simple stuff?’: crafting quiet in trains between Newcastle and Sydney

Author

Listed:
  • Ainsley Hughes
  • Kathleen Mee
  • Adam Tyndall

Abstract

The demands passengers place on contemporary public transport systems are increasingly focused on providing a safe, comfortable and reliable transport experience. One expression of these demands is the recent introduction of designated quiet carriages to trains. The experience of travelling in these spaces has been given little academic scrutiny. Using a case study of the commuting experience between Newcastle and Sydney, New South Wales (NSW), Australia, this paper investigates the practices, relations and affective atmospheres of quiet carriages. The paper argues that passengers on trains come together to craft quiet through interactions between human and material actors. This crafting of quiet results in noticeably different quiet atmospheres at different times of day and in different parts of the journey. Drawing on participant observation including an auto-ethnographic account of travelling in a quiet carriage, the paper distinguishes between four types of quiet crafted by the passenger collective – sleepy and comfortable quiet, busy quiet, tense quiet and spooky quiet. These four types of quiet play upon the body with different intensities and some have stronger affects that linger after the completion of the journey.

Suggested Citation

  • Ainsley Hughes & Kathleen Mee & Adam Tyndall, 2017. "‘Super simple stuff?’: crafting quiet in trains between Newcastle and Sydney," Mobilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(5), pages 740-757, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:rmobxx:v:12:y:2017:i:5:p:740-757
    DOI: 10.1080/17450101.2016.1191797
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/17450101.2016.1191797
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/17450101.2016.1191797?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nilay Yavuz & Eric W. Welch, 2010. "Addressing Fear of Crime in Public Space: Gender Differences in Reaction to Safety Measures in Train Transit," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 47(12), pages 2491-2515, November.
    2. Yung-Hsiang Cheng, 2010. "Exploring passenger anxiety associated with train travel," Transportation, Springer, vol. 37(6), pages 875-896, November.
    3. Colin Symes, 2013. "Entr'acte : Mobile Choreography and Sydney Rail Commuters," Mobilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(4), pages 542-559, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Allen, W. David, 2013. "Self-protection against crime victimization: Theory and evidence from university campuses," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 21-33.
    2. Mahdi Rezapour & F. Richard Ferraro, 2021. "The impact of commuters’ psychological feelings due to delay on perceived quality of a rail transport," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 8(1), pages 1-8, December.
    3. Wang, Bin & Zacharias, John, 2020. "Noise, odor and passenger density in perceived crowding in public transport," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 215-223.
    4. Ashmore, David P. & Pojani, Dorina & Thoreau, Roselle & Christie, Nicola & Tyler, Nicholas A., 2019. "Gauging differences in public transport symbolism across national cultures: implications for policy development and transfer," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 26-38.
    5. Seyed Mohammad Hossein Moosavi & Amiruddin Ismail & Choon Wah Yuen, 2020. "Using simulation model as a tool for analyzing bus service reliability and implementing improvement strategies," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(5), pages 1-26, May.
    6. Pascal Un & Sonia Adelé & Flore Vallet & Jean-Marie Burkhardt, 2022. "How Does My Train Line Run? Elicitation of Six Information-Seeking Profiles of Regular Suburban Train Users," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-22, February.
    7. Shaun Larcom & Ferdinand Rauch & Tim Willems, 2017. "The Benefits of Forced Experimentation: Striking Evidence from the London Underground Network," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 132(4), pages 2019-2055.
    8. Ceder, Avishai & Chowdhury, Subeh & Taghipouran, Nima & Olsen, Jared, 2013. "Modelling public-transport users’ behaviour at connection point," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 112-122.
    9. Abenoza, Roberto F. & Cats, Oded & Susilo, Yusak O., 2017. "Travel satisfaction with public transport: Determinants, user classes, regional disparities and their evolution," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 64-84.
    10. van Lierop, Dea & El-Geneidy, Ahmed, 2016. "Enjoying loyalty: The relationship between service quality, customer satisfaction, and behavioral intentions in public transit," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 50-59.
    11. Delclòs-Alió, Xavier & Miralles-Guasch, Carme, 2017. "Suburban travelers pressed for time: Exploring the temporal implications of metropolitan commuting in Barcelona," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 165-174.
    12. Cheng, Yung-Hsiang & Chen, Ssu-Yun, 2015. "Perceived accessibility, mobility, and connectivity of public transportation systems," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 386-403.
    13. Cheng, Yung-Hsiang & Liu, Kuo-Chu, 2012. "Evaluating bicycle-transit users’ perceptions of intermodal inconvenience," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 46(10), pages 1690-1706.
    14. Karen Lucas, 2012. "A critical assessment of accessibility planning for social inclusion," Chapters, in: Karst T. Geurs & Kevin J. Krizek & Aura Reggiani (ed.), Accessibility Analysis and Transport Planning, chapter 13, pages 228-242, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    15. Tirachini, Alejandro & Hurtubia, Ricardo & Dekker, Thijs & Daziano, Ricardo A., 2017. "Estimation of crowding discomfort in public transport: Results from Santiago de Chile," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 311-326.
    16. Chowdhury, Subeh & Ceder, Avishai (Avi), 2016. "Users’ willingness to ride an integrated public-transport service: A literature review," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 183-195.
    17. Anthony Downward & Subeh Chowdhury & Chapa Jayalath, 2019. "An investigation of route-choice in integrated public transport networks by risk-averse users," Public Transport, Springer, vol. 11(1), pages 89-110, June.
    18. Kurani, Kenneth S., 2019. "User Perceptions of Safety and Security: A Framework for a Transition to Electric-Shared-Automated Vehicles," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt40g1637b, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.
    19. Jones, Peter & Lucas, Karen, 2012. "The social consequences of transport decision-making: clarifying concepts, synthesising knowledge and assessing implications," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 4-16.
    20. Jara-Diaz, Sergio & Monzon, Andres & Cascajo, Rocio & Garcia-Martinez, Andres, 2022. "An international time equivalency of the pure transfer penalty in urban transit trips: Closing the gap," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 48-55.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:rmobxx:v:12:y:2017:i:5:p:740-757. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/rmob20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.