Orient Express

For other uses, see Orient Express (disambiguation).

Orient Express
Poster advertising the Winter 1888–1889 timetable for the Orient Express
Overview
Locale	Europe
Transit type	inter-city rail
Number of lines	5
Number of stations	18
Operation
Began operation	1883
Operator(s)	Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits
Technical
System length	2,000 km (1,200 mi)
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) (standard gauge)

The Orient Express is the name of a long-distance passenger train originally operated by the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits. Its route has changed many times, and several routes have in the past concurrently used the name (or slight variants thereof). Although the original Orient Express was simply a normal international railway service, the name has become synonymous with intrigue and luxury travel. The two city names most intimately associated with the Orient Express are Paris and Istanbul, the original endpoints of the service.

The current Orient Express does not serve Paris or Istanbul. Its immediate predecessor, a through overnight service from Paris to Vienna ran for the very last time from Paris on Friday, June 8, 2007. Since then, the route, still called the "Orient Express", has been shortened to start from Strasbourg instead, occasioned by the inauguration of the LGV Est which affords much faster travel times from Paris to Strasbourg. The new curtailed service leaves Strasbourg at 22.20 daily, shortly after the arrival of a TGV from Paris, and is attached at Karlsruhe to the overnight sleeper service from Amsterdam to Vienna.

Train Eclair de luxe (the 'test' train)

Georges Nagelmackers invited guests to a railway trip of 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) on his 'Train Eclair de luxe' (lightning luxury train). The train left Paris (Gare de Strasbourg) on Tuesday, October 10, 1882, just after 18:30 and arrived in Vienna the next day at 23:20. The return trip left Vienna on Friday, October 13, 1882, at 16:40 and as planned entered Paris (Gare de Strasbourg) at 20:00 on Saturday October 14, 1882.

The train was composed of: 1. Baggage car, 2. Sleeping coach with 16 beds (with bogies), 3. Sleeping coach with 14 beds (3 axles), 4. Restaurant coach (nr. 107), 5. Sleeping coach with 14 beds (3 axles), 6. Sleeping coach with 14 beds (3 axles), 7. Baggage car (complete 101 ton). The first menu on board (October 10, 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.

Routes of Orient Express

Historic routes of Orient Express

Original train

On June 5, 1883 the first 'Express d'Orient' left Paris for Vienna. Vienna remained the terminus until October 4, 1883. The train was officially renamed Orient Express in 1891.

The original route, which first ran on October 4, 1883, was from Paris, Gare de l'Est, to Giurgiu in Romania via Munich and Vienna. At Giurgiu, passengers were ferried across the Danube to Rousse in Bulgaria to pick up another train to Varna, from where they completed their journey to Istanbul by ferry. In 1885, another route began operations, this time reaching Istanbul via rail from Vienna to Belgrade and Niš, carriage to Plovdiv and rail again to Istanbul.

In 1889, the train's eastern terminus became Varna in Bulgaria, where passengers could take a ship to Istanbul. On June 1, 1889, the first non-stop train to Istanbul left Paris (Gare de l'Est). Istanbul remained its easternmost stop until May 19, 1977. The eastern terminus was the Sirkeci Terminal by the Golden Horn. Ferry service from piers next to the terminal would take passengers across the Bosporus Strait to Haydarpaşa Terminal, the terminus of the Asian lines of the Ottoman railways.

The onset of World War I in 1914 saw Orient Express services suspended. They resumed at the end of hostilities in 1918, and in 1919 the opening of the Simplon Tunnel allowed the introduction of a more southerly route via Milan, Venice and Trieste. The service on this route was known as the Simplon Orient Express, and it ran in addition to continuing services on the old route. The Treaty of Saint-Germain contained a clause requiring Austria to accept this train: formerly, Austria allowed international services to pass through Austrian territory (which included Trieste at the time) only if they ran via Vienna. The Simplon Orient Express soon became the most important rail route between Paris and Istanbul.

The 1930s saw the zenith of Orient Express services, with three parallel services running: the Orient Express, the Simplon Orient Express, and also the Arlberg Orient Express, which ran via Zürich and Innsbruck to Budapest, with sleeper cars running onwards from there to Bucharest and Athens. During this time, the Orient Express acquired its reputation for comfort and luxury, carrying sleeping-cars with permanent service and restaurant cars known for the quality of their cuisine. Royalty, nobles, diplomats, business people and the bourgeoisie in general patronized it. Each of the Orient Express services also incorporated sleeping cars which had run from Calais to Paris, thus extending the service right from one edge of continental Europe to the other.

The start of the Second World War in 1939 again interrupted the service, which did not resume until 1945. During the war, the German Mitropa company had run some services on the route through the Balkans, but partisans frequently sabotaged the track, forcing a stop to this service.

Following the end of the war, normal services resumed except on the Athens leg, where the closure of the border between Yugoslavia and Greece prevented services from running. That border re-opened in 1951, but the closure of the Bulgaria-Turkey border from 1951 to 1952 prevented services running to Istanbul during that time. As the Iron Curtain fell across Europe, the service continued to run, but the Communist nations increasingly replaced the Wagon-Lits cars with carriages run by their own railway services.

By 1962, the Orient Express and Arlberg Orient Express had stopped running, leaving only the Simplon Orient Express. This was replaced in 1962 by a slower service called the Direct Orient Express, which ran daily cars from Paris to Belgrade, and twice weekly services from Paris to Istanbul and Athens.

In 1971, the Wagon-Lits company stopped running carriages itself and making revenues from a ticket supplement. Instead, it sold or leased all its carriages to the various national railway companies, but continued to provide staff for the carriages. 1976 saw the withdrawal of the Paris-Athens direct service, and in 1977, the Direct Orient Express was withdrawn completely, with the last Paris-Istanbul service running on May 19 of that year.

The withdrawal of the Direct Orient Express was thought by many to signal the end of Orient Express as a whole, but in fact a service under this name continued to run from Paris to Budapest and Bucharest as before (via Strasbourg, Munich, and Budapest). This continued until 2001, when the service was cut back to just Paris-Vienna, the coaches for which were attached to the Paris-Strasbourg express. This service continued daily, listed in the timetables under the name Orient Express, until June 8, 2007. However, with the opening of the Paris-Strasbourg high speed rail line on June 10, 2007, the Orient Express service was further cut back to Strasbourg-Vienna, departing nightly at 22:20 from Strasbourg, and still bearing the name.

Today

The Istanbul Gar bell

It provides a convenient connection from the TGV arrival from Paris. Before December 14, 2008, this service provided an efficient connection between Paris and Vienna: departure from Paris at 19.24, arrival in Vienna at 8.35, in the other direction departure from Vienna at 20.34, arrival in Paris at 9.34.

EN468-469 Orient-Express

Since 14 December 2008 the Orient-Express (with a hyphen) has run as EuroNight services EN468 and EN469 between Vienna and Strasbourg. One through carriage operates from Budapest to Frankfurt am Main. The trains operate daily.

A modern ÖBB sleeper car

Route:

• Wien Westbahnhof in Vienna
• St. Pölten Hbf
• Amstetten
• Linz Hbf
• Salzburg Hbf
• Ulm Hbf
• Stuttgart Hbf
• Pforzheim Hbf
• Karlsruhe Hbf
• Baden-Baden
• Kehl
• Strasbourg

The train consists of sleeper cars, couchette cars and saloon cars of the Austrian (ÖBB) and Hungarian (MÁV) national railways.

Though the current service only runs from Strasbourg to Vienna, it is possible to retrace the entire original Orient Express route with four trains:Paris-Strasbourg, Strasbourg-Vienna, Vienna-Belgrade and Belgrade-Istanbul, each of which operate daily. Other routes from Paris to Istanbul also exist, such as Paris-Munich-Budapest-Bucharest-Istanbul, or Paris-Zürich-Belgrade-Istanbul, all of which have comparable travel times of approximately 60 hours without delays.

Privately run trains using the name

In 1982, the Venice-Simplon Orient Express was established as a private venture, running restored 1920s and 1930s carriages from London to Venice. This service runs between March and November, and is firmly aimed at leisure travellers, with tickets costing over £1,200 per person from London to Venice. Currently (October 2007) the company also offer occasional services between Venice and Istanbul, as well as routes to other European cities. The company also offer similarly-themed Expresses in Malaysia/Thailand and across Australia.

The American Orient Express operated across the United States as well as parts of Canada and Mexico. It was advertised as a sort of combination of a cruise ship and a five-star hotel. After several years of operation it was sold in 2007 to new owners and its name was changed to GrandLuxe Rail Journeys. In late August 2008, GrandLuxe Rail Journeys abruptly ceased operations. The entire set of luxury train cars was put up for sale in September 2008. In June 2009, it was reported that 25 trains cars had been purchased by Xanterra Parks and Resorts, and would be used to "enhance the national parks experience".

In popular culture

The glamour and rich history of the Orient Express has frequently lent itself to the plot of books and films and as the subject of television documentaries.

Literature

Agatha Christie's room at the Hotel Pera Palas in Istanbul where she wrote Murder on the Orient Express.

• Dracula by Bram Stoker: whilst Dracula escapes from England to Varna by sea, the cabal sworn to destroy him travels to Paris and takes the Orient Express, arriving in Varna ahead of him.
• Murder on the Orient Express (January 1934) by Agatha Christie is probably the most well known story related to the Orient Express. It takes place on the Simplon Orient Express.
• The short story Have You Got Everything You Want?, first published in the US in the April 1933 issue of Cosmopolitan magazine and in the UK as On the Orient Express in Nash's Pall Mall Magazine in June 1933, before reverting back to its original title when published as part of the collection Parker Pyne Investigates in November 1934.
• Stamboul Train by Graham Greene
• Travels With My Aunt by Graham Greene
• Flashman and the Tiger by George MacDonald Fraser: Sir Harry Paget Flashman travels on the train's first journey as a guest of the journalist Henri Blowitz.
• From Russia With Love by Ian Fleming

Film

• Orient Express (1934): film adaptation of Graham Greene's Stamboul Train.
• Orient Express (1944): Germany; released on March 8, 1945, likely the last date a new movie was shown in Nazi Germany.
• Death, Deceit and Destiny Aboard the Orient Express' (2000)
• Around the World in 80 Days (2004): Mr. Fogg rides aboard the train to Istanbul.
• From Russia with Love (1963): James Bond's troubled escape in is also set aboard the train.
• Istanbul Express (1968): thriller, made for television, starring Gene Barry.
• Murder on the Orient Express (1974) and (2001): Film adaptations of the Agatha Christie novel.
• Romance on the Orient Express (1985): TV movie with Cheryl Ladd.
• 102 Dalmatians (2000)
• The Morning Gift by Eva Ibbotson. Ruth and Quin Somerville travel via the Orient Express and reach England.

Television

• Mystery on the Orient Express: a television special featuring illusionist David Copperfield. During the special, Copperfield rode aboard the train and, at its conclusion, made the dining car seemingly disappear.
• 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 entitled Turtles on the Orient Express. As the title suggests it is primarily based on the train.
• Star Trek: The Next Generation, "Emergence": the train appears on the Enterprise's holodeck.
• In the British soap opera EastEnders, in 1986, characters Den and Angie Watts spent their honeymoon on the train. It was also where it was revealed that Angie was lying about her illness, preceding the ultimate storyline in Christmas 1986.
• Aboard the Orient Express Get Smart Series 1 - Episode 13 set on the Orient Express. However, filmed on set.
• Michael Palin travels on the Orient Express in travel documentary series Around the World in 80 Days in which he retraces the footsteps of Phileas Fogg.
• The Restaurant (Series 2) : The final challenge is set on the train, with each pair of contestants cooking for 40 customers.

Music

• Orient Expressions: Musical group from Turkey who combine traditional Turkish music with elements of electronica.
• 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.

Games and animation

• The role-playing game Call of Cthulhu RPG used the train for one its more famous scenarios.
• The Orient Express plays host to an adventure game by Jordan Mechner: The Last Express 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.
• The Adventure Company developed a point-and-click adventure based on Agatha Christie's novel, Agatha Christie: Murder on the Orient Express.
• The 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon spent the best part of an episode on the train.
• 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 give a challenge to do something low tech by The Player robbery. Carmen's goal is the train.
• In the Lord Darcy alternate history series of detective stories, one story takes place on board a fictional train clearly modeled in the Orient Express, though its name and route are different.
• The train is featured in Microsoft Train Simulator, where its route is a 101 km (63 mile) section from Innsbruck to St. Anton in Austria.
• The Orient Express was shown in the game Railroad Tycoon 3 in which you need to go from Vienna to Istanbul.
• The Orient Express cars are available for download to use in Auran's Trainz Railroad Simulator 2004 or later versions.

See also

• Famous trains
• The Last Express
• Starlight Express

Further reading

• Orient Express: The Life and Times of the World's Most Famous Train by E H Cookridge.
  Detail from a copy of the first publication of the book with black and white plates by Allen Lane London in 1979 (ISBN 0 7139 1271 7)

External links

• Article (2005) in 'hidden europe' magazine that picks up some the points discussed in this entry
• Venice Simplon-Orient-Express Luxury Train