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| Taiwan Railway Bento (TR Bento) | |||||||||||||||
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_02.JPG) A regular Taiwan Railway Bento | |||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 臺鐵便當 or 台鐵便當 | ||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 台铁便当 | ||||||||||||||
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Taiwan Railway Bento (Chinese:台鐵便當;pinyin:Táitiě Biàndāng) are a type ofekiben (bento boxed meals) manufactured and distributed onTaiwan Railway at major railway stations and in train cars. It is estimated that, with five million boxed meals sold per annum, the annual revenue from bento distribution is 370 million NTD (approx. US$10 million).[1][2][3]
During theJapanese era, train passengers either dined at adining car or opted for anekiben. However,ekiben boxes were only available at stations, not in train cars.
Under theChinese Nationalists' rule from 1945 onwards, a variety of private catering services sprang up as railway transportation gained popularity. These services were then integrated by theTaiwan Railway Administration in 1960, gradually shaping the major source of revenues of the administration other than transport itself.
On 9 Jun 2000, the pork chopbento, which had been discontinued for 32 years, reappeared in public on the Railways Festival. The originally-estimated one thousand boxes to be sold turned out to be a sales of over 90 thousand due to their popularity.
On 26 Feb 2015,Keikyu Corporation, a Japanese rail operator, sold Taiwan Railway Mealboxes as a promotional event.[4]
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Although Taiwan Railway Bentos are primarily known for theirpork chop and rice, they also contain a variety of side dishes, includingbraised eggs, driedtofu, pieces of dried whiteradish among others.
Taiwan Railway has established five catering zones atSongshan,Taipei,Taichung,Kaohsiung, andHualien railway stations, where staff members of the TRA hand over mealboxes tocar attendants for on-board distribution. During meal times (11:00-13:00 and 17:00–19:00),car attendants walk down the aisle of the train with a trolley, asking if there are passengers who would like abento inMandarin andHokkien.
The containers were originally made ofstainless steel, which were returned and washed after the contents had been consumed. However, due to exceedingly high costs and low return rates (passengers bringing the steel boxes home without permission), the administration now uses disposable paper boxes.
The first Formosa Railroad Bento Festival was set to take place from July 17 to 20, 2015.[5][6][7][8]
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