Today, a clearly marked "quiet carriage" was introduced by V/Line on the Ballarat line, with plans to turn down the volume over the rest of the week on other lines as well.

V/Line has introduced quiet carriages on seven VLocity trains. In these trains— which can be found at the end of the three-carriage sets — customers are expected to turn down their electronic devices, switch mobile phones to silent and keep their conversations quiet. Two-car sets will not have a quiet carriage.

Although passengers are expected to respect the rules of the quiet carriage, they will be self-regulated.

"I guess the message is 'shhh, you're on a V/Line quiet carriage',” said Minister for Public Transport Terry Mulder.

Mr Mulder said that many people like to work, read or study on the train, but often their peace and quiet is interrupted by mobile phones, electronic devices and conversations.

“We are simply asking for community co-operation from people who travel on V/Line to co-operate with the trial of the quiet carriage,” Mulder said.

Mr Mulder said he was optimistic about the trial of the quiet carriages, which will become permanent if customer feedback is positive.

“I think it will be quite successful,” he said.