Austrians want to ban mobiles on trains

AUSTRIANS ARE NO LONGER keen on the sound of music. Ringtone music that is. The second biggest Austrian city, Graz, has decided that it will take a leaf out of France’s book and order commuters on public transport to silence their phones, or switch them off..

Apparently, two out of every three Austrians would welcome the new cellphone silence, which would spare them the teeth gnashing annoyance of having to listen to arrogant ponces test out their various mobile ringtones, or hear them shouting down the phone to their deaf grandmothers, oblivious to the polite coughs and icy stares of their fellow passengers. But of course the free speech advocates, who by definition never shut up, are outraged about the move, and are calling everyone to let them know.

Mayor of Graz, Siegfried Nagl told Austrian TV that “people need to know they don't have the right to be on the telephone permanently and constantly”. And Austrians aren’t the only ones who’ve had it up to their ears with cellphones either. Last week a US representative decided to file legislation to prevent Americans from being able to yak on their mobiles whilst flying, and France’s rail company has long had a policy of “zen zones”, where passengers are made to switch off the offending devices so that commuters can "travel in a totally relaxing environment."

Even the easy going Scandinavians in Denmark, Sweden and Finland have started offering "quiet compartments" to their noise sensitive passengers.

But the new quiet compartments haven’t been a success everywhere. Sweden's Stockholm Transport had to scrap its new "cellphone free zones" on the metro, city buses and commuter trains after only 10 months. In a sad but oh-so-obvious statement, a spokesman, Bjorn Holmberg, said "It relied on people showing respect, but it didn't really work".

People these days, eh?

Even the Austrians, famed for their strict discipline and adherence to rules admit that their master plan might not really work, since its totally voluntary. Transport police won’t be able to frisk commuters for hidden handsets, or punish them for disobeying rules. All they can do is brush up on their icy cold stares.

Some Austrians, however, remain optimistic that the ban will be effective, and are already looking around enthusiastically for yet more places to impose their rule of silence. For example, the country's third largest city, Linz, is not only thinking about banning mobiles on public transport, but also about banning personal mobile calls at the office.

A senior member of Austria's ruling Social Democratic Party, Josef Kalina, had the last word though, when he ranted "How about a total ban on freedom of speech in the public transit system? Using the law to regulate communication between human beings should be rejected as absurd".

Bet he’s really annoying to sit opposite on a train. µ

L’Inq
USA Today