MEALS ON WHEELS: While profit from onboard catering is a rarity, eliminating it altogether is not smart, particularly as passengers see food services as a determining factor when choosing how to travel

摘要

"THE DECLINE in quality of service offered by other modes of transportation - which have opted for reducing costs in some product lines - represents an opportunity for international rail transport," says Mariano Vega, project manager at Kelox - a Spain-based specialist in catering installations for the rail sector. "Passenger surveys show that food services on board trains are a determining element in service quality and, when the duration of travel is several hours, therefore the selection of the mode of travel. "The majority of rail operators would lose a sizeable percentage of their customers if they eliminated their catering services. Aboard an aircraft, though, catering services could be partially removed yet we would still need to travel by air."