Minibar (railroad)
As a minibar (or English Snack Caddy ) in rail transport is a trolley called, which can be pulled or pushed from one person to serve the travelers of place on the train. Normally, cold drinks are offered from a cool box , hot drinks from vacuum jugs and small dishes such as sandwiches , pretzels or chocolate bars , and in some cases ice cream . Compared to the dining car, a minibar saves space and personnel and is therefore cheaper to operate, but only allows a smaller selection of dishes and brings with it the problem of waste disposal , since the goods are delivered in disposable packaging . Thanks to the on-site service, good sales are achieved, especially in summer. The minibar trolleys are secured by an immobilizer that can only be released by constantly pressing a bracket on the handle bar.
In Switzerland, the minibar was supplemented by new, larger trolleys in 2005; which were marketed as a railbar . These have been further developed compared to the previous model and also offer freshly brewed coffee. Since the 2008/2009 timetable changes, they have been called SBB Minibar (the name of the SBB subsidiary elvetino has been dropped).
The DSG and Mitropa also use minibars. However, these were difficult to maneuver especially in compartment cars on the crossings in the moving train. The much more manageable snack caddies are used in the ICE , but they have less capacity.
Fuel cells
In spring 2014, the Swiss SBB introduced hydrogen-powered fuel cells in its rolling minibars in order to have enough energy for the built-in espresso machine , which can also offer passengers cappuccino . The usual accumulators previously used would have been too heavy for this energy-intensive task.
literature
- Ignaz Civelli: Watered with all waters. It was a long, winding road with strange beginnings to get to the minibar and the on-board restaurant on the train. In: Yearbook for Railway History. Volume 35 (2003), pp. 99-103. Ed .: German Society for Railway History eV, Werl 2003 ISSN 0340-4250 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Railway gastronomy. . sbb.ch. Retrieved July 17, 2011.
- ↑ SBB Minibar: Thanks to fuel cells, Cappuccino is now also available ( Memento of the original from May 8, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Benedikt Vogel, accessed on May 8, 2014 on behalf of the Swiss Federal Office of Energy
