On 4 October 1883, Gare de l’Est was full of curious people. A crowd of elegant Parisians had come to get their first look at the Orient Express – an invention that would revolutionize travel, a luxury train that was later referred to as „The King of Trains and The Train of Kings”. With leading politicians, journalists and writers participating, the new sleeper train was inaugurated with pomp and ceremony.

photo:wikipedia.org

The Orient Express was created by Georges Nagelmakers, a young Belgian engineer. He travelled on American trains and experienced that, though they were far more technologically advanced than European ones, they were rather uncomfortable. He was inspired by the idea to create luxury trains for wealthy passengers, he united long-distance travel with comfort and elegance – and it worked. The „real” Orient Express operated up till 1977, and, besides making the travelers’ journeys unforgettable, inspired plenty of authors from Joseph Kessel and Ernest Hemingway to Agatha Christie, who met her husband on board.

photo: snfc.com

Now the legend is back – or at least a successor appeared. This time, the final destination is not Istanbul, passengers will be able to travel as far as Tehran, Iran. MAV-Start, the Hungarian company will provide for the train, while the expensive tickets are marketed by a British travel agency. The company plans to operate five trains to the Iranian capital annually. The luxury train will offer five-star trips to passengers – we hope that it’ll be able to live up to the old reputation.