The 13 carriages from the original Orient Express dating back to the 1920’s are set to make a comeback in 2024 in time for the Paris Olympics. Last used in 2009, they were discovered in 2015 by Arthur Mettatal, a French rail enthusiast, abandoned at Małaszewicze on the Polish/Belarus border.
In 1976, the Swiss travel company Intraflug AG had first hired, then also bought, these CIWL(Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits)-carriages, and operated them as Nostalgie Istanbul Orient Express from Zürich to Istanbul. In 1983, the 100th anniversary of the Orient Express was celebrated by a trip of this train from Paris to Istanbul, and in 1988 it was run to Hong Kong via the Soviet Union and China. From there it was transferred by ferry to Japan and ran between Hiroshima and Tokyo after which it was used for some excursions.
They’ve been acquired by ACCOR, the French hotel group, a 50% holder of the Orient Express name, who located 4 others elsewhere in Europe.making a total of 17 carriages. With a resurgence of overnight train travel in Europe, combined with the luxury restoration of the Nostalgie carriages, ACCOR sees this as a highly profitable venture.
The rediscovered carriages include sleeping cars, lounge cars and a restaurant car, and they still feature plenty of their original Art Deco decor. While they might be in poor condition at the moment, they’re currently being restored in France. When the carriages are relaunched, they’ll include suites with their own bathrooms and an entire carriage dedicated to performances and events.
This isn’t the only Orient Express ACCOR is involved in, having previously announced an Italian Orient Express route ‘La Dolce Vita’ https://www.orient-express.com/high-life/a-grand-return-to-italy-with-la-dolce-vita-train/ to commence in 2023.
These two new routes are not to be confused with Venice-Simplon-Orient-Express , https://www.belmond.com/venice-simplon/orient-express which is owned by the Belmond hospitality group and runs between London and Venice, with other routes recently launched to cities like Amsterdam and Florence.
