Metra recently unveiled a prototype Café Car, which offers snacks and drinks, rotating it across rush-hour trains on its busiest lines. The agency is asking riders to weigh in on whether they’d like to see the concept become a permanent part of their commute.
The prototype is part of a feedback-gathering initiative, with the goal of determining public interest through an onboard survey riders are asked to fill out via QR code. In exchange for their thoughts, riders can grab free canned iced coffee, sodas, chips and other snacks.
Questions on the survey gauge how often riders take the Metra and which line; how they would rate the space, capacity and comfort of the Café Car; what kind of snacks and beverages they’d like to see; and if there are additional features they’re interested in.
“We’ll just take a good, hard look at all the responses we get from people and decide whether to go forward with it, and how extensively to go forward with it at that point,” said Michael Gillis, Metra director of communications.
The car made its debut in service on the Rock Island Line from Sept. 30 through Oct. 2, where commuters walked into the car in wide-eyed wonder.
“I’d probably be (in this car) every single day,” said Oak Forest resident Patrick Johnson, who was on the 5:05 p.m. train out of LaSalle Street Station on Wednesday. “We don’t see cafe cars on commuter lines very often, especially in the United States. Incredibly cool, unique thing. This can drive a little bit more attention to the public commuter system and how we can improve it.”
Johnson doesn’t work in the city and came downtown just to see the Café Car.
He described himself as a “train enthusiast” and compared the prototype idea to what’s commonplace across Japan or parts of Europe, where the passenger rail systems prioritize efficiency and comfort. Besides Amtrak, U.S. rail systems primarily focus on long-distance freight transport because of lower passenger demand, but implementations such as a Café Car could change how the public views commuting, Johnson noted.
“The first rail line to get the Café Car for its trial run — I said, of course, I’m going to try my best to catch it,” he said.
To make the prototype, Metra removed the second level on one half of a car and installed counters, stools, booths and tables that can seat around 20 people. The interior has also been decorated, so it feels different from the average Metra car.
Rider Angela Prazza scanned the QR code to take the survey, noting that the car has an “old-timey” aesthetic — like cozy olden days. She said she typically takes the Union Pacific West line to Lombard, but was meeting her husband along the Rock Island Line on Wednesday.
Prazza was on board with the idea and noted that it’s especially helpful for commuters who regularly make a mad dash to catch a train without caffeine because stopping at a coffee shop would delay them further.
“I bring coffee from home,” she laughed. “But imagine how helpful? They can just get on the train and get coffee here!”
Greg Godfrey, senior director of Metra’s train reporting and customer communications, was behind the Café Car counter, handing out La Colombe iced lattes, root beer, Coke and bags of Doritos and popcorn to any rider who filled out a survey.
He said the response has been energetic.
“It’s been awesome — this morning’s first early morning rush hour train was all quiet at first, and then people started discovering this and you would hear loud bursts and people getting together — it was cool,” Godfrey said.
Metra used to have a bar car that offered beer, wine, mixed drinks and snacks for commuters until the service contracts expired in August 2008.
But the Café Car is completely new, said Gillis, and there is one prototype so far that will be rolled around the system to gather as much feedback as they can before the agency makes any decision on what’s next.
The car will be moved to the BNSF Line the week of Oct. 13, the Milwaukee District North Line the week of Oct. 20, the Milwaukee District West Line the week of Oct. 27, the Union Pacific North Line the week of Nov. 3, the Union Pacific Northwest Line the week of Nov. 10, and the Union Pacific West Line the week of Nov. 17.
The specific schedule for each line will be posted at metra.com/CafeCar.