Orient Express

The Orient Express was a long-distance passenger luxury train service created in 1883 by the Belgian company Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits (CIWL) that operated until 2009. The train traveled the length of continental Europe, with terminal stations in Paris in the northwest and Istanbul in the southeast, and branches extending service to Athens, Brussels, and London.

The Orient Express embarked on its initial journey on 5 June 1883, from Paris to Vienna, eventually extending to Istanbul, thus connecting the western and eastern extremities of Europe. The route saw alterations and expansions, including the introduction of the Simplon Orient Express following the opening of the Simplon Tunnel in 1919, enhancing the service's allure and importance. Several routes concurrently used the Orient Express name, or variations. Although the original Orient Express was simply a normal international railway service, the name became synonymous with intrigue and luxury rail travel. The city names most prominently served and associated with the Orient Express are Paris and Istanbul, the original termini of the timetabled service. The rolling stock of the Orient Express changed many times.

Following World War II, the Orient Express struggled to maintain its preeminence amid changing geopolitical landscapes and the rise of air travel. The route stopped serving Istanbul in 1977, cut back to a through overnight service from Paris to Bucharest, which was cut back further in 1991 to Budapest, then in 2001 to Vienna, before departing for the last time from Paris on 8 June 2007. After this, the route, still called the Orient Express, was shortened to start from Strasbourg, leaving daily after the arrival of a TGV from Paris. On 14 December 2009, the Orient Express ceased to operate entirely and the route disappeared from European railway timetables, a "victim of high-speed trains and cut-rate airlines."

In contemporary times, the legacy of the Orient Express has been revived through private ventures such as the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, initiated by James Sherwood in 1982, which offers nostalgic journeys through Europe in restored 1920s and 1930s CIWL carriages, including the original route from Paris to Istanbul. An ÖBB Nightjet service was restored between Paris and Vienna in December 2021, although this was not branded as Orient Express, and it was cancelled again in December 2025 when the French Government withdrew financial support. In late 2022, Accor announced plans to launch its own Orient Express in late 2026 with journeys from Paris to Istanbul.

Train Eclair de lux (the "test" train)

thumb|right|CIWL logo

In 1882, Georges Nagelmackers, a Belgian banker's son, invited guests to a railway trip of on his Train Eclair de luxe ("lightning luxury train"). The train left Paris Gare de l'Est on Tuesday, 10 October 1882, just after 18:30 and arrived in Vienna the next day at 23:20. The return trip left Vienna on Friday, 13 October at 16:40 and, as planned, re-entered the Gare de Strasbourg at 20:00 on Saturday 14 October.

Georges Nagelmackers was the founder of Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits (CIWL), which expanded its luxury trains, travel agencies and hotels all over Europe, Asia, and North Africa. Its most famous train remains the Orient Express.

The train was composed of:

Baggage car
Sleeping coach with 16 beds (with bogies)
Sleeping coach with 14 beds (3 axles)
Restaurant coach (nr. 107)
Sleeping coach with 13 beds (3 axles)
Sleeping coach with 13 beds (3 axles)
Baggage car (complete 101 ton)

The first menu on board (10 October 1882): oysters, soup with Italian pasta, turbot with green sauce, chicken ‘à la chasseur’, fillet of beef with ‘château’ potatoes, ‘chaud-froid’ of game animals, lettuce, chocolate pudding, buffet of desserts.

thumb|centre|Orient Express cars, 1930|750x750px

Routes

History

thumb|300px|The first Orient Express in 1883

On 5 June 1883, the first Express d'Orient left Paris for Vienna via Munich. Vienna remained the terminus until 4 October 1883, when the route was extended to Giurgiu, Romania. At Giurgiu, passengers were ferried across the Danube to Ruse, Bulgaria, to pick up another train to Varna. They then completed their journey to Constantinople, as the city was still commonly called in the west at the time, by ferry. In 1885, another route began operations, this time reaching Constantinople via rail from Vienna to Belgrade and Niš, carriage to Plovdiv, and rail again to Istanbul.

The onset of the First World War in 1914 saw Orient Express services suspended. They resumed at the end of hostilities in 1918, and in 1919 a more southerly route via the Simplon Tunnel, Milan, Venice, and Trieste opened. Before the war Austria had allowed international services through its territory (which included Trieste at the time) only if they ran via Vienna, but the new route passed entirely south of Austria's postwar borders. The service via Italy was known as the Simplon Orient Express, and it ran in addition to continuing services on the old route. It soon became the most important rail route between Paris and Istanbul. but Yugoslav Partisans frequently sabotaged the track, forcing a stop to this service.

Privately run trains using the name

In 1976, the Swiss travel company Intraflug AG first rented, then later bought several CIWL-carriages. They were operated as the Nostalgic Istanbul Orient Express by Seattle-based Society Expeditions. The route went first from Zürich to Istanbul, following the route of the Arlberg Orient Express. In 1983, the 100th anniversary of the Orient Express was celebrated by extending the route to run from Paris to Istanbul. The train ceased operations in 2007.

Belmond

thumb|right|240px|Venice Simplon-Orient-Express in Poland, in 2007

In 1982, the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express was established by businessman James Sherwood as a private venture and is currently owned and operated by Belmond. It operates restored 1920s and 1930s carriages on routes around Europe. It also offered a connecting service from London to Folkestone on the British Pullman, using similarly restored vintage British Pullman cars, but it was announced in April 2023 that due to complications ensuing from Brexit this would cease, and travelers from London would have to take Eurostar to Paris in order to join the Orient Express. The Venice Simplon-Orient-Express operates from March to December and is aimed at leisure travellers. Tickets start at US$3,262 per person and it operates on multiple different routes most notably Paris-Istanbul via Vienna and Budapest. Despite its name, the train runs via the Brenner Pass instead of the Simplon tunnel. Belmond also offers a similarly themed luxury train in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, called the Eastern & Oriental Express. Sherwood also operated a chain of Orient Express-branded luxury hotels, licensed from SNCF, owner of the Orient Express branding. The chain was renamed Belmond in 2014 when the branding license ended.

Accor

In 2017, Accor purchased a 50% stake in the Orient Express brand from SNCF for the right to use the name. In 2018, Accor began renovation work on 17 CIWL carriages from the defunct Nostalgie Istanbul Orient Express, which date back to the 1920s and 1930s. It will carry passengers between Paris and Istanbul beginning in late 2026.

"Minder on the Orient Express" (1985): a special episode of the long-running ITV sit-com Minder.
Whicker's World – Aboard The Orient Express: Travel journalist Alan Whicker joined the inaugural service of the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express to Venice in 1982, interviewing invited guests and celebrities along the way.
Gavin Stamp's Orient Express: in 2007 UK's Five broadcast an arts/travel series which saw the historian journey from Paris to Istanbul along the old Orient Express route.
The 1987 cartoon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles had an episode titled "Turtles on the Orient Express". As the title suggests it is primarily based on the train.
A 1993 advert for Bisto Fuller Flavour Gravy Granules featured in it with a young couple.
In 1994's season 1 episode of Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego? called, "The Gold Old Bad Days", Carmen Sandiego and her V.I.L.E. gang are given a challenge to do something low tech by The Player robbery. Carmen's goal is the train.
The 1995 cartoon Madeline had an episode titled Madeline on the Orient Express, in which a chef stole a snake.
The episode "Emergence" of the science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation partially takes place on a Holodeck representation of the Orient Express.
On the 15 May 2007 broadcast of Jeopardy!, the shows theme music "Think" was played by a person on the train’s piano, since the Final Jeopardy clue was about the Orient Express.
In the British soap opera EastEnders, in 1986, characters Den and Angie Watts spent their honeymoon on the train.
"Aboard the Orient Express" Get Smart series 1, episode 13 is set on the Orient Express.
In one episode of the British cartoon series Danger Mouse, called "Danger Mouse on the Orient Express" (a parody of Murder on the Orient Express), Danger Mouse and Penfold travel on the train on their way back to London from Venice. Danger Mouse's arch enemy Greenback is also on the train.
In an episode of the television series Chuck, Chuck and Sarah decide to go AWOL and take a trip on the Orient Express.
At the end of the Doctor Who episode "The Big Bang", the Doctor receives a call for help from the "Orient Express — in space". This setting is used in the episode "Mummy on the Orient Express", including a reference to the ending of "The Big Bang", four years later. The Orient Express also briefly appears in the beginning of the 2024 Christmas special, "Joy to the World".
In episode 15 of television series Forever (U.S. TV series), Dr Henry Morgan travelled from Budapest to Istanbul with his wife Abigail Morgan on his honeymoon in 1955. He performed an appendectomy on a member of the fictional Urkesh royalty.
The Backyardigans episode "Le Master of Disguise" features the Orient Express, showing Uniqua, Pablo, Austin, Tasha and Tyrone going to Istanbul from Paris.
The series Agatha Christie's Poirot, which adapted the entirety of Christie's works featuring Hercule Poirot as played by David Suchet, included an adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express as part of its 2010 episodes.
Michael Palin's Around The World in Eighty Days (1988). Michael Palin travelled on the Orient Express in episode 1 from London Victoria to Innsbruck, using a ferry across the English Channel from Folkestone. The train did not continue on to Venice because of a strike on the Italian railways.
One of the episodes of the animated series The Adventures of Paddington Bear titled “Paddington on the Orient Express” features the titular bear and Mr. Gruber on the train. They end up being part of a mystery when a bracelet goes missing.

Music

Alex Otterlei’s "Horror on the Orient Express" is inspired by the Call of Cthulhu RPG. The integral symphonic version was released on CD in 2002, a 26-minute Suite for Concert Band was published in 2012.
Orient Expressions, a musical group from Turkey who combine traditional Turkish music with elements of electronica, take their name from the train service.
The Jean Michel Jarre album The Concerts in China has a track entitled "Orient Express" as track 1 of disc 2, though the relation to the train is unknown.
A concert band piece, Orient Express was written by Philip Sparke.
There was a band based in Hawaii called Liz Damon's Orient Express.
A band in France with exotic instrumentation was called The Orient Express.

Games

Sources:

The role-playing game Call of Cthulhu (1981) used the train for one of its more famous campaigns, Horror on the Orient Express.
The TSR role-playing game Top Secret had a 1983 module based on the train titled "Operation Orient Express".
Just Games released a murder mystery boardgame (1985) called Orient Express using the famous train route as a backdrop for solving murders. The game is based on the novel Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie.
Heart of China (1991 computer game) has a final sequence in the Orient Express. An action scene takes place on the roof.
The Orient Express plays host to an adventure game by Jordan Mechner. The Last Express (1997 computer game) is a murder mystery game set around the last ride of the Orient Express before it suspended operations at the start of World War I. Robert Cath, an American doctor wanted by French police as he is suspected of the murder of an Irish police officer, becomes involved in a maelstrom of treachery, lies, political conspiracies, personal interests, romance and murder. The game has 30 characters representing a cross-section of European forces at the time.
In the game Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped (1998) for PS1, the third level (which is Asian-themed) is named Orient Express.
The Orient Express was featured in two scenarios in the Railroad Tycoon series:
In Railroad Tycoon II (1998), players get to connect Paris to Constantinople in a territory buying challenge.
In Railroad Tycoon 3 (2003) players need to connect Vienna to Istanbul.
The train is featured in Microsoft Train Simulator (2001), where its route is a section from Innsbruck to Sankt Anton am Arlberg in Austria.
The Orient Express cars were made available for download to use in Auran's Trainz Railroad Simulator 2004 or later versions by the content creation group FMA.
The video game adaptation of From Russia with Love includes scenes aboard the Orient Express
The Adventure Company developed a point-and-click adventure based on Agatha Christie's novel, Agatha Christie: Murder on the Orient Express (2006).
The first scenes of The Raven: Legacy of a Master Thief, a 2013 game for PC, involve a mystery set amongst train carriages inspired by the Orient Express.
The entire Orient Express set was used in the Facebook game, TrainStation (2010).
The Orient Express is a usable engine and caboose in the mobile game Tiny Rails (2016).
In Euro Truck Simulator 2 (2012) there is an achievement called Orient Express requiring players to complete deliveries between the following cities: Paris-Strasbourg, Strasbourg-Munich, Munich-Vienna, Vienna-Budapest, Budapest-Bucharest, Bucharest-Istanbul.
In Train Simulator, it features several routes of the Arlberg-Orient Express from London to Faversham, Bludenz to Innsbruck, a few lines around Salzburg, and a small section of the Simplon-Orient Express in Ljubljana. It also features a part of the ÖBB EN Orient Express and the original Orient Express line between Strasbourg and Munich.

References

Notes

Bibliography

Gerhard Rekel, Monsieur Orient-Express. How Georges Nagelmackers managed to connect worlds, Brussels 2024, Lynn Dursin, (also in German, French and Dutch).

External links

Orient-Express, a luxury brand