No more ice cream with Mt Fuji: Japan train line phases out snack carts

Snack and food sales have been a mainstay on the Shinkansen, or bullet train, since it began running in 1964. - AFP

TOKYO (Reuters): Passengers on Japan's super-fast bullet trains have long enjoyed ordering coffee, ice cream or boxed lunches from staff pushing a snack cart, savouring the treats as they whipped past landmarks such as Mount Fuji.

But faced with a looming labour shortage and a trend for more people to buy food before boarding the train, on-board snack cart services between the cities of Tokyo and Osaka will reach the end of the line on Oct 31.