• Client: Rail Gourmet
• Disciplines: Research, Product design, Communications

The brief:

Rail Gourmet identified the opportunity to develop a new type of trolley onboard trains to maximise sales onboard and increase the quality of their offer of 'at-seat-custom'. The challenge was to create a design that not only incorporates the necessary equipment but creates an eye-catching, desirable tool that:

- effectively communicates the offer

- is flexible to suit time-of-day changes

- clearly shows the products on sale

- most importantly, changes the way people look at onboard trolly service  

The approach:

This project started with several weeks of research reviewing customer reactions to the existing trolley, customer behaviours whilst travelling, trends in society and F&B consumption, the market place and most importantly, how RG make their money onboard.

The outcome of this research paved the way to radically change the design with clear directives and required outcomes. These included better visiblity of product, better ergonomics and manoeuvrability, lighter weight whilst improving stability and of course, something remarkably different aesthetically.

The concept design stage included 6 different potential solutions from the safe to the extreme and everything in-between! The winning design was instantly singled out and was then developed into a working project. From concept we progressed to technical design and prototypes. At first these were made from cupboard, then MDF, then GRP on an aluminium frame. This allowed us to develop and tweak before going to full prototyping.

Working with AP Hollings & Sons we developed 2 working prototypes to trial onboard and win approval from the end client and health and safety. The trolley received huge praise and was approved within a matter of weeks.  

The outcome:

The outcome has been overwhelming. With orders placed upon approval of the prototype, the T2020 is already in use onboard Southern Rail and customer reaction has been great! In a recent research study, 93% of customers thought that the new trolley had a positive effect on the service and encouraged them to buy.

The design is 97% recyclable made from rotation moulded HDPE on an aluminium boxed section frame. It is perfecxtly engineered to be ergonomic for the full range of staff users and is 40% lighter than its predecessor.

Part of the research highlighted the potential for an 'on-trolley advertisment screen'. This has also been included in the design and has created an entirely new revenue stream for the client. This was an outcome of the research that TYC conducted and proves the worth of such research studies.

In the recent Cafe Society Awards the T2020 was 'Highly Commended' in the New Product Innovation category, even though it wasn't in production at the time! We hope that the trolley will continue to be a success and a great outcome for our client.