AC

Silence is golden. Or is it for busy business travelers and commuters? Riders on New York's Long Island Railroad and Metro-North will have an easier time finding a quiet car now that the busiest commuter rail lines in North America increased the number of quiet spaces this month. Amtrak started the trend of having cars that are free from cellphone chatter more than a decade ago. Now, corporate trekkers and other passengers see other rail lines across the U.S., such as Chicago's Metra and Southern California's Metrolink, setting aside space where even gossip with a seatmate has to be hushed. But at a time a weakened economy is increasing pressure on employees to produce, not all riders want to stay mum when they could be using their commute to get a head start on the day's tasks. "I'm on the phone half the time," says Doug Culp of Galveston, Texas, who runs a distribution operation and comes across quiet cars when traveling on the East Coast. "I respect those who want...