Rail

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Do fish, cheese and a railway vehicle go together?

railway vehicle

If the Verkehrsbetriebe Zürich (VBZ) has its way, fish and cheese are a perfect match for the railway - namely in the form of the ‘Sushi Tram’ or the ‘Fondue Tram’ in the newly redesigned Gastrotram.

Based on a Tram2000 (Be4/6) from the 1970s, VBZ has refurbished a completely new event tram in the style of the 1970s over the last two years. The main focus was on the complete remodelling of the vehicle interior. Nothing was changed to the tried-and-tested drive technology, so that the vehicle is expected to go into service from spring 2025. The Gastrotram can either be booked for public journeys or requested and booked directly with VBZ for private journeys / private events.

In this project, TÜV SÜD did the fire safety assessment of this conversion from an everyday Tram2000 to a Gastrotram during the whole development phase. The focus here was not only on the standard and regulatory requirements for the design or the materials used, for example, but also on the operational handling of the vehicle and the equipment required for catering to guests.

In the ‘Fondue Tram’, for example, the caquelon (special pot for preparing cheese fondue) is heated or kept warm over an open fire in proper style. To prevent this from causing a fire, the TÜV SÜD experts inspected the special solution for securely fixing the rechaud and the fire properties of the materials used. In conjunction with the operational risk analysis and other measures, a ‘fire-safe’ operation is ensured at all times.

The vehicle started operation on 24.04.2025 and the events are bookable on the VBZ Homepage.