Is it okay to make a new no-children train carriage?

Earlier this month, the SNCF decided to create an “Optimum” carriage in its high-speed TFV trains that are dedicated to people who are over the age of twelve, excluding children. The SNCF explains that this carriage offers a quiet journey that is ideal for working or relaxing. I think that it is not okay for some public places, such as the train, to ban children from being in them.

The “Optimum” is said to be a carriage that provides a seating layout that gives the passenger lots of privacy. It is a quiet space for people to feel comfortable and also to relax. Even though the SNCF says, “It’s meant for everyone,” it only allows people over 12 years old to board this carriage. Gaëlle Babault from the SNCF, posted on a social media that: “Our Optimum takes up less than 8% of the space on a TGV Inoui [train] and only from Monday to Friday.” The carriage is located at the end of the train, and it is said that it can offer a more personalized travel experience. However, some kids might also need some private space to do some school work when they are traveling or just read a book. Therefore, the idea of getting rid of children in train carriages would bring a quieter journey does not stand.

The concept of a “child-free journey” has been popular on online social media, with many users wanting “adults-only” flights. It seems as though some carriages becoming child-free might soon be a reality, but still many people disagree with this idea. Adam England, 26, says, “I think there’s a real anti-children sentiment running through the society at this moment, and I find it unsettling.”

I disagree with this idea because it can cause the loss of a child’s freedom to move, and other distractions have bigger impacts on people. For the loss of children’s freedom to occupy some spaces, when children might want to just walk around and look through the window in a specific place, but that part of the train is a child-free carriage, they couldn’t go there. And so next time they would tell their family not to get on that train because they do not like the rule. Now, about other distractions affecting people more, sometimes in these child-free carriages, people might turn the volume of their phones louder because there is no sound of the children. If phones become a distraction, these child-free carriages might become phone-free. That would not work well when there might be some urgent message on the phone, but they couldn’t take their phone! This shows that the noise of children isn’t the only distractions on a carriage.

Also, all the distractions aren’t all from children. Some adults might also be yelling at each other, or the volume of their phone might be too loud. And so, if the kids are unhappy with the rules of the child-free carriages on a train, they might tell their parents not to come here next time, and parents usually listen. That would cause the company get less money. If they didn’t have the money to keep making the child-free carriages, it wouldn’t provide any benefit in the end.

In conclusion, I think the SNCF should not build this child-free carriage because of its restriction on children’s freedom of use of public places. This will cause major problems and become more distracting. It impacts both political and public issues, which is why this policy should be changed.