Condé Nast Traveller
When it took its first trip from Paris to Istanbul (then Constantinople) in 1883, the Orient Express redefined what train travel could look like. Nearly 140 years on, as it gears up to hit the tracks again, the high-end rail line might set yet another benchmark for journeys by rail.
News that the legendary train would be resuming service first made the rounds over the summer, when French hospitality group Accor, which took à 50 percent stake in the Orient Express brand in 2017, announced that it would restore and reimagine the original luxury convoy – formerly known as the Nostalgie-Istanbul-Orient-Express – to welcome passengers in the near future (2025, to be exact).
The initial fruits of that restauration have now been unveiled. A first batch of images of the updated car interiors has just been released to the public, while an immersive exhibition aptly titled the « Orient Express Revelation » is being held in Paris this week.
From a quick glimpse, it’s safe to say the « new » train exudes just as much glamor as its predecessor. Opulent and visually arresting, the Orient Express 2.0 seems to blend a 1920s aesthetic with contemporary styles and mod-cons – a call button for Champagne at the tables of the bar car, modern artwork throughout the cabins, a layout conceived to optimize space – alongside original details like Lalique flower lamps and Morrison and Nelson marquetry. The latter were found pretty much intact when the train was « rediscovered » in 2015 by industrial history researcher Arthur Mettetal, after it lay abandoned for almost 10 years on the border between Belarus and Poland.