PRAGUE, Czech Republic – More than 400,000 cups of coffee, but also beer or cappuccino – these drinks are the most popular items sold by České dráhy ’s minibars. Croissants, baguettes or various finished pastry are very popular snacks. In total, the minibar attendants have served almost one million one hundred and seventy thousand passengers, which confirms the increasing interest in this kind of services. České dráhy is the major railway operator in the Czech Republic.
“Minibars make the journey more pleasant for our customers and I am very glad that there is more and more interest in these services. For a symbolic price of CZK 15, passengers can buy tea, coffee or small snacks. I am also highly pleased that there has been a great interest in the Kryšpín beer special. The proceeds from the sale of this beer will be spent on the final stage of the renovation of the locomotive of the three-hundred-and-sixty-five class,” describes Jiří Ješeta, Member of the Board of Directors and Deputy Director General of ČD for Passenger Transport.
The most popular items on the ČD Minibar menu in 2023 included instant coffee (287,883 servings), Manuel brand coffee (113,306), instant cappuccino (147,245), tea (103,327), still water (95,279), gently sparkling water (83,579), Pilsner Urquell (144,459), Budweiser Budvar (93,147), Kofola (111,440), croissant 7 days (99,405) and baguette (94,338).
This means that passengers drank altogether almost three railway tankers of coffee drinks and beer.
As far as other menu items which are very popular with passengers are concerned, one should mention also dried meat, for example, of which almost thirty thousand packs were sold. Edible insects have their fans as well, with almost seven thousand packs sold.
The Kryšpín beer special is also almost sold out, and through the purchase of this special beer passengers supported the funding of the repair of the 365.024 steam locomotive. Renovation of this locomotive is currently underway in the workshops of the ČD Museum in Lužná u Rakovníka.
During the summer holidays, cashless payment was launched in the minibars. More than 115,000 passengers have already chosen this method of payment. Further innovations are being prepared within the framework of the services provided by the ČD minibar carts and their attendants for 2024 as well.
In the current timetable, the České dráhy ‘s Minibar service is available on 171 train connections, and vending machines with refreshments are also installed on the board of other trains. These lines are known as Západní expres, Krušnohor, Hradečan and Krakonoš in the Prague – Hradec Králové section, Ostravan, Slovácký expres, Vysočina, Rožmberk, Svitava and Moravan.
