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Train operator opens restaurants

České dráhy brings new dining options to deteriorating rail hubs

By Victor Velek
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
January 16th, 2008 issue

KURT VINION/THE PRAGUE POST
La Rocket's self-service stand at Prague-Libeň was one of two cafes ČD opened last December.
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ABOUT LA ROCKET

Operated by: ČD Restaurant, a joint-venture led by České dráhy (ČD)
Plan: Launch Western-style food chain to improve train station
dining options
Restaurants opened: Dec. 17, 2007, in Prague–Libeň and Pardubice
Expansion: ČD has promised to evaluate its 200 restaurants and
buffets across the country with an eye on raising standards

In the minds of many, the restaurants, bistros and pubs at local railway stations embody all the flaws of the Czech hospitality industry. They’re suspect places, best to be avoided.
The state-owned rail operator České dráhy (ČD) is about to change this unflattering image. But, rather than contract the restaurants out to traditional food operators, ČD has opted to launch its own restaurants. Named after the legendary locomotive La Rocket, which was built in the railway’s infancy, the new chain would give train station dining a new — and decidedly Western — look.
“Railway station restaurants are often seen as dirty places attracting suspicious individuals, places where you can buy a shot of rum for 13 Kč,” said ČD spokesman Ondřej Kubala. “We want to change the reputation of station restaurants so that passengers will not avoid them.”
The right drection
To create and oversee La Rocket, ČD joined forces last April with the railway catering company JLV, among other firms, and established ČD Restaurant. The first two La Rocket self-service restaurants and one fast-food stand opened in the Pardubice and Prague–Libeň stations Dec. 17.
The costs of opening one self-service restaurant came to about 9 million Kč ($509,000), and the fast-food stand cost between 2 million and 3 million Kč, according to Ivan Morx, CEO of ČD Restaurant.
Further outlets should open this year as franchises. ČD Restaurant plans to run only a few restaurants directly for franchise training purposes.
“The La Rocket franchise will be available by the end of June,” Morx said, “but we are already in talks with potential franchisees.”
While both passengers and the restaurant industry generally praise ČD’s attempt to improve shabby station restaurants, some have questioned whether ČD is putting its emphasis in the right place.
“It is generally known that services at train stations need to get better, and raising the quality of station restaurants is definitely a step in the right direction,” said Václav Stárek, head of the Czech Association of Hotels and Restaurants.
However, Stárek says that opening new restaurants must go hand in hand with the overall renovation of stations themselves. “I cannot imagine a good restaurant successfully operating in a decrepit, dirty station,” he said.
Will they come?
ČD knows many of its stations are crumbling. According to Kubala, La Rocket is a complement to the Living Stations project, which will renovate select stations and turn them into shopping, dining and entertainment hubs for passengers and neighborhood residents alike.
However that project, launched in 2004, has brought few tangible results.
“It has met with little interest among private investors, though the idea itself is good,” said Martin Hájek of the Association of Railway Customers.
Hájek praised ČD’s dedication to improving station restaurants, but he has found La Rocket, with its Western-style look and food, somewhat lacking.
“In terms of prices and food, La Rocket is not an eating place for the majority of Czech passengers,” said Hájek, who doubts the chain will be successful.
At La Rocket, passengers can buy fresh sandwiches and baguettes, salads, steaks or grilled meat skewers, for prices up to 99 Kč. And the chain’s clients won’t be limited to train passengers, Morx hopes.
“We want La Rocket to serve not only passengers but also the wider communities around the stations,” he said.
In addition to the fast-food stands and self-service restaurants, La Rocket will also expand to include proper restaurants, Morx said. His company plans to modernize the country’s whole network of about 200 station restaurants and buffets, which today are leased to various businesses.
“Some restaurants will be turned into La Rocket, some will have to undergo a renovation, some will be closed down,” Morx said. “The restaurants that meet our quality criteria will keep on operating unchanged.”
The transformation of the country’s traditional railway pubs, which possess unique atmospheres and cultural significance, has drawn laments from some quarters. Some of these pubs served as meeting places for the anti-communist underground, said Václav Svoboda, 27, a frequent visitor to the pub at the Prague-Dejvice station.
“These are part of Czech culture,” he said.

Victor Velek can be reached at vvelek@praguepost.com


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