The luxurious Orient Express has crossed Romania earlier than ever on its long journey from Paris to Istanbul. A ticket costs more than £17,000, but viewing from outside is free. What is strange about this train, which usually passed through Romania in late August – early September?

East Express in 2023

The VSOE (Venice Simplon Orient Express) luxury train has been running between Paris and Istanbul for a week, and on its current journey it entered Romania via Curtici on June 4, stopped for a few hours in Tejus and spent more than two hours on Monday in Sinaia, where tourists visited a castle Pelesh

The train arrived in Bucharest on Monday evening, the tourists were accommodated in a hotel, and the train left the Northern Railway Station on Tuesday morning to reach Bulgaria and then Turkey.

The carriages are not only gorgeous, something common for a 7-day trip that costs as much as a new Duster, but also immaculately washed, which is rare to see on Romanian passenger trains. VSOE cars are really “mirror”.

In addition, if you manage to get very close, you can smell the pleasant smells wafting from the train (air fresheners that create a pleasant atmosphere for those who give “fortune”), unlike in classic passenger trains, where you can smell them, especially if the train is near the end of the route, the unpleasant smell of a dirty toilet.

Of the entire VSOE route of more than 3,000 km, only 60 km are NOT electrified: between Redulesti and Giurgiu. It says a lot about railway Romania against civilized Europe. Given the situation, the train left North Station on Tuesday morning with two locomotives in stark contrast to the rest of the train.

The locomotives were washed, but they are very old. Direction Giurgi – Ruse – Varna – Istanbul. The train was pulled by two locomotives between Bucharest and Giurgiu, as there were cases in the past when the locomotive broke down.

In a few days, the Eastern Express will cross Romania again, returning from Istanbul to Paris. Another transfer is planned in August.

The ancient history of the Eastern Express

It all started with the idea of ​​a Belgian entrepreneur named Georges Nagelmakers, who in 1865 invented “a train that would cross the continent on a metal belt for more than 1,500 miles.” After difficult negotiations with the railway companies of several countries, Nagelmakers created a company to operate the train: Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits.

It was the first train in continental Europe with a dining car, and the sleeping cars were inspired by cars built by the American engineer and industrialist Pullman.

The Eastern Express set out on its first voyage in October 1883. Towed by a steam locomotive, the train left Paris, crossed the Alps, passed through Budapest and Bucharest and reached Constantinople, also by sea. Over time, the Orient Express has carried a variety of characters, from celebrities to those considered questionable.

Where the train stopped on its first journey: Nancy – Strasbourg – Munich – Vienna – Budapest – Szeged – Gymbolia – Timisoara – Piatra Olt – Pitesti – Bucharest – Giurgiu – Smarda. The distance from Smarda (at that time the port of Giurgiu) to Constantinople was covered in several stages – by ferry to Rustyuk (Ruse), from there to Varna travelers boarded a local train, and in Varna a new transshipment followed. , on the boat of the Austrian company “Lloyd”, which delivered passengers to Constantinople, within 18 hours.

The duration of the first trip from Paris to Constantinople was 83 hours and 30 minutes. The track of the first “Eastern Express” train was 75 meters long and consisted of five cars: two sleeping cars, one dining car and two luggage cars.

In the first flight, the luxurious train was towed from Pitesti to Bucharest by the Romanian locomotive “Neajlov”, and from Bucharest to Giurgiu by “Vedea”. The passengers were invited by King Charles I to an evening hosted at Peles Castle in Sinai, which has just ended.

The 1920s was the period when the Orient Express was at its peak. Based on the stories surrounding this train and its travels, the famous writer Agatha Christie wrote the successful novel “Murder on the Orient Express”, which was later adapted into a film.

The name Simplon comes from a tunnel in the Alps, which for seven decades was the longest railway tunnel in the world. The 19 km long tunnel was completed in 1906 and connects Brig (Switzerland) with Domodossola (Italy). The tunnel shortened the distance between Paris and Venice.

In the 1930s, three trains ran under the name Orient Express: one on the 1889 route, the other through the Simplon Tunnel and the Arlberg Orient Express (via Zurich, Innsbruck – Budapest, with carriages also to Bucharest and Athens).

In the first run, the journey from Paris to Vienna took 27 hours, to Budapest another eight hours, and to Bucharest – 19 hours. In 1900, travel times were further reduced: Paris to Budapest took 23 hours, Vienna to Budapest took five and a half hours, and Budapest to Bucharest took 18 hours.

In 1889, a train connected Paris directly to Constantinople, but not through Romania, but through Serbia and Bulgaria. The trip lasted 67 hours and became a real revolution. The train ran two or three times a week.

The Oriental Express ran between Paris and Venice until 1977, after which the carriages were sold at auction. Over the next few years, millionaire entrepreneur James B. Sherwood found and purchased 35 railcars, which were restored to return the roads to their 1920s glory.

Eastern Express, the latest story

In 1980, the Eastern Express train with direct carriages Bucharest North – Paris East, via Budapest and Vienna, 2500 km, 37-39 hours, was introduced in the history of Romanian trains, but it was not a luxury train today, but an international train of a very long way Also, not many Romanians could get passports to reach France by train.

In 1982, the super-luxury train Orient Express was launched between Paris and Venice. Since 2000, it has returned to Romania, located on the classic route Paris – Vienna – Budapest – Sinaia – Bucharest – Varna – Istanbul.

Romania also gave Orient Express some flaws, and there were some unpleasant episodes.

The worst incident happened in September 2012, when stones were thrown at a train near Sighisoara and three windows were broken. The conductor of the train called 112 and told about the event and the measurements were taken in Kurtich because the train stopped only 5 minutes before reaching Cimmeria.

In 2018, speed restrictions, locomotive malfunctions, and work that was already incomplete or not being done at all significantly extended the journey of this train, which arrived in Bucharest two and a half hours later than the schedule indicated. Between Cimmeria and Brasov is 300 km, but due to technical problems and numerous speed restrictions on corridor IV, the train took almost ten hours.

In 2020 and 2021, the train did not run due to the pandemic.