The Orient Espresso: Starbucks builds café on train

On 14 November, the ubiquitous coffee company unveiled its café-cum-train car in Zurich. The car, created in collaboration with Swiss Federal Railways (SBB), will make its first journey on the line between Geneva Airport and St Gallen in Switzerland on 21 November.

The carriage, which is split into two levels, gives customers the classic Starbucks experience, complete with a wooden bar and pastry case. The café features oak-coloured tables and ecru seats that can accommodate 50 people. Indirect lighting and a creamy white ceiling give the space a sense of airiness and sophistication.

Creating the Starbucks carriage was not without its challenges, however. Starbucks’ director of concept design Liz Muller noted the company had to take into account the ‘constant movement of the train, space limitation and stringent safety regulations’.

Millennials are increasingly turning away from cars and looking to trains, bikes and light rail to facilitate their urban lifestyles. For more on the resurgence of rail travel and opportunities for Rail-tail, see our Rail is the New Road microtrend.