From the point of view of space utilisation, a dining car is a waste of
seating space. In the corresponding perspective of specific energy consumption
(per seat), the elimination of the restaurant coach can be seen as an energy
efficiency measure.
For reasons of cost rather than energy efficiency, restaurant coaches are
replaced by ambulant catering service in some railways (e.g. German DB) or never
existed in the first place (e.g. Japanese Shinkansen).
There is however a clear target conflict between efficiency goals of
operators and customer wishes since a train restaurant is seen by many
passengers as a real added value of railway transport. |