selling food carts

Following the withdrawal of catering services from the Tokyo-Osaka line, the railway company put 50 of its carriages up for sale for 620 euros. Applications received for 2432

No passenger transportation, no freight transport, no tourist services. Japan’s railway authorities have just discovered that there is a business niche in their sector that is as unexpected as it is surprisingly profitable: selling food carts. Despite everything, the operator of the Tokaido Shinkansen railway line found that selling these small structures with wheels and handles was very profitable. A lot actually. Although only a few dozen were offered for sale and at a price that did not suit all budgets, the volume of demand was overwhelming.

You know, a passion for railroads… and furniture.

Goodbye food carts. The Japanese Central Railway Shinkansen (JR Central) is in trouble. Given labor shortages and the prospect of passengers purchasing fewer and fewer drinks and snacks on their trains, the operator has decided to phase out catering services on board some Shinkansen, or “bullet” trains, in 2023. Simply put, travelers preferred to buy soft drinks from street shops or train stations before boarding the train.

News that catering services would be canceled on board ultra-fast “bullet trains” running between the cities of Tokyo and Shin-Osaka broke in August, with the decision implemented several months later at the end of October. By November, the cars were no longer running on the Tokaido Shinkansen line. When workers stopped walking through the narrow aisles pushing carts loaded with bottles, coffee makers and ice cream, the company found hundreds of carts parked.

About high-speed trains… To a new life. This decision meant that about 350 food carts that had previously served on the Tokaido Line were no longer used overnight. The Japanese company has decided to transfer a significant portion of the carriages to other bullet train operators, but has reserved a few dozen to satisfy lovers of railway culture… and practical furniture. In particular, 50 trolleys went on sale at a price of 100,000 yen, almost 620 euros.

Request flow. The result was amazing. Passengers may not have been willing to buy snacks and juices on Tokaido Line trains, but they were more than interested in furniture with training wheels. The operator gave interested parties the opportunity to submit applications until February 5 and discovered that it had a backlog of 1,942 applications for fifty vehicles before that deadline.

Not bad. Especially when you consider that – since the operator allowed up to two carts to be reserved per customer – the total number of requests increased to 2432. In other words: there were almost 50 requests for each of the known units. Faced with such an avalanche, Straits Times He claims that the company had no choice but to organize a lottery.

But… And this rage? The trolleys in question can carry up to 50 kilograms of food and drink, are 110 cm high and 33 cm wide and are equipped with brakes that automatically lock when the catering staff release them. However, if they are the reason for such a flood of requests, it is not only due to their utility and design: the cars are also part of the history of transport in Japan, a country with an interesting railway history. Its residents ushered in the era of high speeds just six decades ago, in October 1964, when the Tokaido Shinkansen line opened.

The catering service opened shortly after the train route opened in 1964 and began offering snacks as popular in Japan as Shinkansen super-cold ice cream. Among those knocking on the operator’s door to receive one of the coveted 50 carts are people eager to install them in their school kitchens and cafeterias, hoping to find their design will help serve students.

About ice cream and intentions. “The trolleys carried more than 60 items, including soft and alcoholic drinks, bento boxes, chocolates and snacks. But many hikers along the route remember their ice cream that was “too hard” and chilled with dry ice to eat. slow on long trips,” recalls Justin McCurry, columnist The keeper, in a story about saying goodbye to snack carts. Just because they’re disappearing doesn’t mean coffee and ice cream lovers on the bullet train should give up their privileges. They will be able to continue buying them, but from vending machines on the platforms.

The Tokaido line may not be the only one to say goodbye to fancy food carts. Straits Times says West Japan Railway has also announced that it will say goodbye to food carts between Osaka and Hakata stations in Fukuoka. The measure will come into force on March 15. The reason is the same as JR Centra, lack of operators and falling demand for trains. It is not yet known whether the company will decide to put some of its carts up for sale.

Cover image: Hans-Johnson (Flickr)

In Hatake: Japan has a problem with deer being run over by the railroad. That’s why he created barking trains