Finding inner peace takes silence and lots of it.

On good days, inner peace comes quickly -- somewhere between Baltimore and Odenton. On bad days, nirvana is harder to come by, drowned out by the sound of crying babies, chatting neighbors and, worst of all, ringing cell phones.

But starting Monday, Jones and other commuters on every morning train from Baltimore to Washington will be able to seek refuge in "quiet cars." Silence is king in the quiet car -- whispered conversations only, cell phones and pagers turned off and, sorry, but no children allowed.

MARC first tested the concept in January with two cars on the Penn Line, and riders couldn't get enough of it.

"We keep expanding it just to keep up with demand," said Simon Taylor, manager of MARC trains.

In April, the program went from two trains to 12, and riders responded with more than 280 e-mails praising the quiet car. So, next week, all morning trains from Baltimore to Washington will have one, including the Camden and Brunswick lines.

But MARC needs to make more noise about the quiet car, said Jones, who has occasionally ridden in one. "One problem is that a lot of people still don't know it's a quiet car, until someone says, 'Hey, stop talking!' "

Commuter James Omanwa has never been one of those people, but he has seen others speak out.

"It's a self-policing thing," said Omanwa, 24, a nursing student. "Once there was this lady talking on the phone so loud . . . you know, about her boyfriend and going out to lunch. Someone finally told her to cut it out."

Sitting in a "regular" car yesterday morning, Omanwa was assaulted by sounds from all sides. A few chairs down, someone's cell phone rang, a sound that can register about 80 decibels, depending on the ring, according to the League for the Hard of Hearing. Below him on the double-decker car, the toilet flushed (75 to 85 decibels). Near the car's doorway, two Washington-bound women shared a conversation (about 60 decibels). And beneath Omanwa's feet, the train rumbled its way along the track (90 to 115 decibels).

Such sounds usually aren't enough to damage the ear, said audiology expert Robert Sweetow, but irritation from everyday noises can cause stress and even affect sleeping habits.

Sweetow doesn't hate cell phones (the best time to reach him is during his 45-minute drive from work). But he objects to people using phones in public.

"Intensity of sound is physical, but loudness is psychological," said the professor at the University of California at San Francisco. "What makes cell phones so annoying is that you don't get anything out of the conversation, so it's noise to you."

Society in general has become noisier, according to many acoustics experts.

"And so people are more militant in demanding that their acoustic environment not be violated," Sweetow said.

MARC passenger Roy Schlieben agreed.

"Once cell phones came around, there are always people talking on the train," he said. Schlieben, 25, a public policy analyst, has overheard people making dates, tying up business deals and even lobbying members of Congress from the train. "It doesn't get annoying, except on the single-level cars -- you can't avoid hearing it there," he said.

Two minutes later his cell phone rang.

"Sorry, just a second."

It was no lawmaker or hot date, but Schlieben's boss calling him from the office.

When he hung up four minutes later, Schlieben smiled weakly and explained, "Well, when it's the office, I answer. You have to answer no matter where you are."

On Monday, there will be at least one place on MARC morning trains where commuters can't answer -- the car nearest the engine. And afternoon trains may be next. MARC is installing its first quiet car on an afternoon train -- No. 424 on the Penn Line, departing from Washington for Baltimore at 3:34 p.m. Virginia Railway Express also is considering quiet cars for its commuters.

But if additional quiet cars don't solve the noise problem for passengers, Jones suggests meditation. "That way, if the phone rings and the guy next to you starts talking, you're already calm enough to deal with it."