By the end of the 19th century, airplanes were not used for transportation. Therefore, ships and trains had become the most advanced means of transportation during that period. Among them, the train gradually became popular among the people because passengers were able to reach their desired destination in relatively less time.

As rail service became popular among passengers, railway companies tried to start luxury train services. As a result, the Orient Express railway service was started in 1883. The luxury trains belonging to that railway service, which ran between many European countries at that time, had become more popular among passengers. From now on, you will be told the story of more than a century old history of the Orients Express train service.

The idea of ​​a luxury train service came to the fore

When the 1870s began, many trains ran between European countries. The facilities in those trains were minimal. As a result, passengers who took long train journeys between the countries were inconvenienced. Accordingly, in that era, Europe felt the need for a luxury train. During such a period, Georges Nagelmarkers, who was a Belgian engineer, visited America.

As the railway service in America had reached a more advanced level at that time, luxurious rail buses and trains had been added to run. Nagelmarkers got a chance to travel in them. He was amazed to see the facilities there. So he came up with an idea to run such super trains and railcars in Europe.
Georges Nagelmarkers – history.com

Birth of CIWL Company

At that time, an engineer named George Pullman took the initiative to establish a luxury train service in America. Impressed by Pullman’s wonderful concept, Nagelmarkers asked him for help in starting such a service in Europe. Pullman was not willing to support it.

Undeterred, Nagelmarkers came to Europe and thought about creating a new train service. But due to the Franco-Persian war that broke out in the early 1870s, its work was halted.

A few years later, Nagelmarkers, who restarted their operations, formed a new company named Georges Nagelmarkers with the aim of starting a luxury train service. Later the name of the company was changed to CIWL (Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits).

His company started transporting passengers using luxury rail buses in the early days. It soon became popular with commuters. That’s because such a service was not implemented in Europe before that.

CIWL Company Rail Bus

Government support to the company
By the late 1870s, Nagelmarkers’ railbuses were in great demand. But a large number of passengers did not get a chance to travel in rail buses. Therefore, the need for a luxury train was strongly felt at that time. The company did not have enough money to build such a train. It required the intervention of a powerful sponsor.

As the time passed, King Leopold II of Belgium got to know information about Nagelmarkers’ company. After that, the king sent a message to Nagelmarkers and invited them to meet him. Nagelmarkers, who went to meet the king that day, revealed his plan for a luxury train. The king, who was a great train lover, decided to support the start of the train service. CIWL also agreed to provide support for further development of the company.

Origin of the Orient Express train service

Due to the intervention of King Leopold II, CIWL received many contracts from other railway companies. There, CIWL company designed different types of railway carriages and sold them to those companies. The company got a lot of income. Meanwhile, the new luxury train service was in progress. Engineer Nagelmarkers regularly observed its construction work.

He wanted to create a railway service in Europe that was superior to the railway services in America. Nagelmarkers’ efforts paid off and by the middle of 1882, the first Orient Express train was completed. King Leopold, who came to observe the finished train, highly appreciated its quality.

Wedding train journey

The maiden voyage of the Orient Express was on October 10, 1882. On that day, the train traveled from Paris, France to Vienna, Austria. King Leopold II of Belgium became the chief guest of the train journey and many other dignitaries joined the journey.

Nagelmarkers also managed to gather many other people who had supported the creation of the first Orient Express train for the journey.

A Chance of a Wedding Train Ride 

The staff of the train worked to provide delicious meals to the guests who traveled in the comfortable train carriages that day. Accordingly, guests were served Italian pasta along with soup, oysters, chicken chassis, turbot, beef tenderloin, venison, fruit salad and pastries. Also, the guests had the opportunity to taste wonderful drinks such as Bordeaux and Burgundy wines and French champagne.

The train left Paris at 6.30 pm on October 10th and reached Vienna at 11.20 pm the next day. The train left Vienna again on October 13th and reached Paris at 8pm the next day. With that, the maiden journey of the Orient Express train was over.

How food was prepared on the train 

Official start of train service
The Orient Express train officially started running on October 4, 1883. On that day, the train traveled from Paris, France to Istanbul, Turkey. It took more than two days for that journey. On the day of the official start of the railway service, all the seats of the train were filled with passengers.

Passengers had reserved tickets early because the newspapers had informed about the train journey in advance. Therefore, the CIWL company got a lot of profit from the maiden train journey. Orient Express also received huge demand from passengers. So, after a few years, this train service became more popular among European countries.

A Luxury Train Carriage

This luxury train had comfortable sleeper compartments. Compartments were reserved for the safe storage of passengers’ luggage. Passengers were impressed by the restaurants that prepared excellent food and drinks here. In those restaurants, food was prepared according to Italian, German and French recipes.

Modern bathrooms were built for the passengers who needed to take a bath during the journey. Also, because there were things like libraries, music rooms, and games rooms in the train, the passengers were able to reach their destination without any effort.

Various Orient Express trains

The Orient Express train traveled from Paris to Istanbul in the early days. After a while, the train traveled from London to Istanbul. There the train reached Istanbul via London, Paris, Strasbourg, Munich, Vienna, Budapest and Bucharest. The train service continued until 1962.

While that train was running, another Orient Express train joined the service in 1919. Known as the Simplon Orient Express, it traveled from Paris to Istanbul by a different route. The train traveled to Istanbul via Lausanne, Milan, Venice, Belgrade and Sofia. The name of the railway service, which lasted until 1977, was changed to Direct Orient Express in 1962.

Another train called the Erlberg Orient Express ran from London to Athens in Greece and Bucharest in Romania from 1930-1962. The train reached Paris, Zurich, Vienna, Budapest and then split to Athens and Bucharest. The Venice Simplon Orient Express train ran from Calais, France to Venice, Italy from 1982-2005.