A restaurant tram is a tram vehicle where meals can be served in a way of a full-service, sit-down restaurant. Customers consume the meals while the tram is following a route over an existing network of a tramsystem. Old trams are used with a rebuild interior with upholstered seats and tables. Most restaurant trams are equipped with a small kitchen used just before serving the meals, while a kitchen in a restaurant is used to do most preparations.
Cities that operate or have operated a restaurant tram are Brussels,[1] The Hague, Rotterdam, Bern, Zurich, Timisoara,[2] Kolkota[3] and Christchurch.
The U76/U70 tram line between the German cities of Düsseldorf and Krefeld used to offer a Bistrowagen ("dining car" in German), where passengers could order drinks and snacks. That practice dates back to 1924, when interurban trams conveyed a dining car.[4] With the introduction of modern tram units in 1981, four trams had a Bistrowagen[5] that operated every weekday until 2014.
In 1976 the first full dining restaurant started running in Bern using a historic tramcar and trailer.[6]
In 1983 the Colonial Tramcar Restaurant started running in Melbourne using three historic W-class trams,[7] but the service had to close in 2018 because the trams were seen as too unsafe to operate between other traffic.[8]
Since 2005 in Milan, two historic tramcars -Class 1500- from 1928 are in use as a restaurant.[9]
W-class tram in Melbourne
Class-1500 tram in Milan
Ce 4/4 type tram in Zurich
GTL-8 tram in The Hague
Tram 411 in Christchurch
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