The Orient Express

The Orient Express was a luxury passenger train service that ran across continental Europe from 1883 until 2009. It was created by the Belgian firm Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits (CIWL). Its main route connected Paris in the northwest with Istanbul in the southeast, with additional branches reaching Athens, Brussels, and London.

The first journey began on 5 June 1883, traveling from Paris to Vienna, and later extended to Istanbul, linking western and eastern Europe. Over time, the route changed and expanded; for instance, the Simplon Orient Express was introduced after the Simplon Tunnel opened in 1919, which boosted the service’s appeal and significance. Several different routes operated under the Orient Express name or similar variations.

Though it was originally just a standard international railway service, the name came to be associated with luxury and intrigue. The cities most famously tied to the service were Paris and Istanbul, its original endpoints. The train’s rolling stock was replaced multiple times.

After World War II, the Orient Express lost its leading position due to shifting political conditions and the growth of air travel. Service to Istanbul ended in 1977, and the route was reduced to an overnight train from Paris to Bucharest. It was cut back again in 1991 to Budapest, then in 2001 to Vienna.

The last departure from Paris took place on 8 June 2007. After that, the service—still called the Orient Express—started from Strasbourg, leaving daily after a TGV arrived from Paris. On 14 December 2009, the Orient Express stopped running entirely and was removed from European railway timetables, described as a “victim of high-speed trains and cut-rate airlines.”

Today, the Orient Express’s legacy continues through private ventures. In 1982, James Sherwood launched the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, which offers nostalgic trips across Europe in restored CIWL carriages from the 1920s and 1930s, including the original Paris-to-Istanbul route. In December 2021, an ÖBB Nightjet service resumed between Paris and Vienna, though it was not branded as Orient Express; it was canceled again in December 2025 after 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.