Orient Express plans train launch following discovery of old carriages

Artisans from across France are to work on an invigorated modern incarnation of Nostalgie-Istanbul-Orient-Express, which has been discovered in Europe.

The original Orient Express revolutionised rail travel when it first appeared as a concept more than 140 years ago and the brand is now part of Accor.

Orient Express will work with architect Maxime d’Angeac on a “new, crucial, and historic mission to revive the legend” with the focus on reinterpreting the decor of Nostalgie-Istanbul-Orient-Express to reveal it in time for the Olympics.

Train travellers on board will experience one of the 17 original Orient Express cars dating from the 1920s-1930s, now adorned with “exceptional decor”.

This particular set of carriages was a train-cruise inaugurated in the early 1980s by Swiss tour operator and businessman Albert Glatt, which ran between Zurich and Istanbul.

Under the name of “Extreme-Orient-Express” the train also made the longest journey ever between Paris and Tokyo, before stopping a few years later and disappearing.

Arthur Mettetal, a researcher specialising in industrial history, conducted a worldwide inventory of the Orient Express for French rail company SNCF in 2015, and discovered the well-preserved cars, whose interiors still had their Morrison and Nelson marquetry and Lalique panels, emblematic of Art Deco style.

During his research, Mettetal discovered a providential video of a train in full service, posted anonymously on YouTube. “We knew the Glatt train existed somewhere, but nobody knew exactly where,” he explained. “While deciphering the video, we saw the sign for the Malaszewicze station, a name widely used in Poland. With a bit of persistence, Google Maps and Google 3D put us on the right track. The car roofs, visible on the aerial views, were indeed those of the Nostalgie-Istanbul-Orient-Express, neatly lined up on the border between Belarus and Poland. The cars appeared to have been sleeping there in the open for about ten years.”

After two years of negotiations, the Nostalgie-Istanbul-Orient-Express was sold to Orient Express, with a convoy taking the 17 cars – 12 sleeping cars, a restaurant, three lounges and one van – back to France.

Mettetal has worked with the likes of Daum and Hermes and taken on prestigious restoration and decoration projects such as the Maison Guerlain on the Champs-Elysees. The first clues as to the decor of the reinvented train will be revealed in October.

“The rebirth of the Orient Express is a technological challenge, meeting scientific, artistic and technical criteria, where the entire project has been conceived as a work of art,” said architect Maxime d’Angeac. “From the nuts and bolts stamped with Orient Express’ signature to the innovative concept of the suites, an exact science of detail will allow travellers to rediscover the great splendour of the Orient Express. It will be an incomparable train travel experience, imagined through a contemporary vision of comfort and extreme luxury.”

Orient Express is also already working on other projects, including the Orient Express La Minerva in Rome and Orient Express Palazzo Dona Giovannelli in Venice, which are both set to open in 2024, while a hotel in Riyadh will also follow.

Meanwhile, in parallel with the launch of the Nostalgie-Istanbul-Orient-Express, the company plans to launch Orient Express La Dolce Vita in early 2024, with six trains running iconic itineraries.