Orient Express retires

The 126-year run of the Orient Express* ended on Dec. 13, 2009. 

When the service was inaugurated in 1883 by entrepreneur Georges Nagelmacher, it ran twice a week from Paris to Varna, Bulgaria, where a ferry took passengers on to Istanbul. Later, the rail line was extended to Istanbul. 

In its first decades, the train became the stuff of story and legend. “Dracula” used it as a setting, as did Ian Fleming in the James Bond novel “To Russia With Love.” Agatha Christie was inspired to write “Murder on the Orient Express” after learning the train had been stuck in the snow for several days en route to Istanbul.

Starting in the 1960s, economic concerns and competition from other train services and increasingly less expensive air travel caused the Orient Express’ route to be shortened. First Istanbul was dropped, later Bucharest and, finally, Paris. By 2007, all that remained under the Orient Express designation was the Strasbourg-Vienna route.

*The historic Orient Express service should not be confused with the privately run Venice Simplon-Orient-Express train which runs vintage railcars between London and Venice. VSOE is owned by Orient Express Hotels, Ltd.