No more ice cream with Mt Fuji: Japan train line phases out snack carts
08/08/2023 09:00
TOKYO, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Passengers on Japan's
super-fast bullet trains have long enjoyed ordering coffee, ice
cream or boxed lunches from staff pushing a snack cart,
savouring the treats as they whipped past landmarks such as
Mount Fuji.
But faced with a looming labour shortage and a trend for
more people to buy food before boarding the train, on-board
snack cart services between the cities of Tokyo and Osaka will
reach the end of the line on Oct. 31.
Central Japan Railway 9022.T said on Tuesday it would
phase out the famed on-board snack cart services, in which a
uniformed vendor dispenses beverages and light refreshments,
pushing their cart through the aisles of the moving train and
bowing as they enter or leave the carriage.
Snack and food sales have been a mainstay on the Shinkansen,
or bullet train, since it began running in 1964, the year Japan
hosted the first Tokyo Olympics, a railway spokesperson said,
but it was not clear when the cart services began.
The online response was despondent, with "Super-Cold
Shinkansen Ice Cream" trending 5th on the X platform formerly
known as Twitter and "In-Train Service" 6th within hours of the
announcement.
"I remember that I enjoyed the ice cream every time I got on
the train, and when I jumped on the last train without eating, I
was saved by the sandwiches sold there," one user said.
Passengers on first-class cars will be able to order food
and drink using QR codes starting Nov. 1, the railway company
said.
"While cost reductions are important for a company, on-board
snack cart services are also important for the enjoyment of the
traveller's experience," another user wrote.
(Reporting by Satoshi Sugiyama, editing by Elaine Lies and
Christina Fincher)
((Satoshi.Sugiyama@thomsonreuters.com;))