The new Orient-Express that will circulate between Paris and Vienna from 2024 is revealed a little more.
Remember that the Accor hotel group wants to revive the legend on board 17 original carriages of this mythical train from the 1920s and 30s, whose original carriages were scattered as far as Poland and have been recovered.
Cars beautifully restored by architect Maxime d’Angeac as shown in the images below of the luxurious cabins, the restaurant car, the corridors…
Remember that the French company is co-owner of the “Orient-Express” brand with the SNCF. However, the mythical train has known several operators and owners over time, a long river that is anything but calm that has caused the dispersion of very richly decorated wagons.
It was then that Arthur Mettetal, a researcher specialized in industrial history, entered the scene in 2015, who was carrying out a global inventory of the Orient-Express for the SNCF.
a turbulent history
In the course of his investigation, he discovers a video of a train in the middle of a maneuver, published by an anonymous person on Youtube. He then goes up the track to Poland thanks in particular to Google Maps that allows him to locate from the sky the roofs of 17 cars that are in fact those of the Nostalgie-Istanbul-Orient-Express, called “Glatt cars”.
Divine surprise, on his way there, Arthur Mettetal discovers some cars still in good condition, in particular the luxurious decorations composed of marquetry by Morrison and Nelson, and Lalique panels, emblematic of the Art Deco style, which have remained intact.
“After two years of negotiations, the owner of the Nostalgia-Istanbul-Orient-Express sold his treasure to the Orient-Express. The agreement was signed at the Hotel Bristol in Vienna, in July 2018. A Dantesque convoy, in a truck, escorted by several police vehicles brings the 17 cars – 12 sleeping cars, 1 restaurant, 3 lounges and 1 van – to France”, says Accor, who entrusts Maxime d’Angeac with the mission of “reviewing” these cars while respecting “the memory and the art of traveling according to Orient-Express”.
At the moment, the group does not give details, both on the expected rates and on the frequencies of the planned round trips.
Accor is not the only one betting on the luxury train in Europe. Puy du Fou has announced the launch of a train from Paris for a six-day, five-night tour of France. The offer is called “The Grand Tour”.
It will not only be about traveling on a Belle Epoque-style luxury train that is furiously reminiscent of the mythical Orient-Express, but also about attending the attractions.
There are fifteen cabins equipped with bathroom with shower and private toilets from 10 to 30m2 each. Tickets will start at €4,900 and the train will only carry 30 passengers per trip. The company hopes to convince 600 travelers in the first year.
The main dates of the Orient-Express
• 1883: Georges Nagelmackers launches the Orient-Express (OE), the most luxurious train in the world, after a trip to the United States. It connects the West (Paris) with the gates of the East in Istanbul in Turkey.
There are three routes available that, released one after another, worked together. Thus, in its golden age, the Orient-Express was an authentic railway network that linked the main European cities.
• 1962: competing with the car, the route is reduced. The train only goes as far as Bucharest, then it is limited to Budapest in 1992 and Vienna in 2001. Since 2007, the Orient-Express only makes the return trip between Strasbourg and Vienna, before disappearing completely in 2009.
• In the early 1980s, however, two private entrepreneurs decided to revive the legend.
On the one hand, James Sherwood, the American owner of the Hotel Cipriani in Venice, restarts the Venice-Simplon-Orient-Express. On the other, the Swiss Albert Glatt inaugurates the Nostalgia-Istanbul-Orient-Express.
This cruise train, made up of historic Orient Express carriages, toured Zurich and Istanbul and was a resounding success. But a few years later, the adventure ends and the train disappears.
• 2015: SNCF asks Arthur Mettetal, a researcher specializing in industrial history, for a global inventory of the Orient-Express. He finds in Poland 17 cars which are in fact Nostalgie-Istanbul-Orient-Express cars, called “Glatt cars”.
• 2018: its owner sells his treasure to Orient-Express. A Dantesque convoy, in a truck, escorted by several police vehicles brings the 17 cars – 12 sleeping cars, 1 restaurant, 3 lounges and 1 van – to France.
Source: BFM TV
