The new railway romanticism is related to small palaces on rails that, sometimes, are reminiscent of cruise ships in the sense of giving passengers time to explore the surroundings of the tracks, through half-day excursions to nearby islands, natural parks or cultural claims.
The tours often take you where roads can't, whether through the Malaysian jungle (as Belmond Eastern has announced it will do next year
“In these itineraries, the most important thing is not the point of arrival, but the path chosen,” explains África Llamas, the commercial director of Elephant Travel, a company that markets these trips.
We are talking about trains with Egyptian cotton sheets, embroidered pillows, gastronomy of many forks... The cabins are not to be missed: shiny wooden panels that transport you to an aristocratic past, elegant rooms with soft lighting, private marble bathrooms on some occasions, turndown service. 24-hour butler, underfloor heating, complimentary kimono and slippers to take home, private transfers from the train and, in short, the comforts of a flag house.
Llamas can attest to this after traveling from Venice to Paris on the Venice Simplon-Orient Express. “What caught my attention the most was the feeling of running into Agatha Christie at any moment,” he jokes in relation to these time machines. “But they are not trains that remind us of Eurodisney, but rather they are much more real, although even the smallest detail has been taken care of: the door handles, the silver cutlery, the white gloves of the butlers, the grand piano that It livens up the evenings…the feeling is similar to if the Titanic was sailing on rails,” recalls Llamas after leaving Venice at noon and setting foot in the French capital the next day. The food, by the way, is exquisite: lobster from Brittany, Provençal tomatoes, top quality cheeses from the regions that the train passes through...
The passengers are, for the most part, couples old enough to allow themselves the luxury of moving slowly without suffering from the arrival time, allowing themselves to be caressed by the purring of the locomotives.
The Venice Simplon Orient Express embodies the glamor and elegance of the golden age of travel. The original Express d'Orient began operating in 1883 and on its first route linked the French capital with Constantinople, before changing its name in 1891 and being called the Orient Express. The legend of the most exclusive train in the world ran from then on in parallel to the turbulent history of Europe.
Thus, the Treaty of Versailles, signed by the contenders at the end of the First World War, prohibited the train from passing through Germany, so it began to do so through the Simplon tunnel that connects Italy with Switzerland. However, the train stopped providing its services in the last third of the 20th century, pushed by low-cost flights and high-speed trains.
For a few years now, several trains have used the name Orient Express, after acquiring the rights from SNCF, the French state railway company. The French company, for example, has reached an agreement with Accor, the hotel group, to proceed to exploit the brand. For now, the new Orient Express La Dolce Vita is scheduled to begin circulating in Italy in 2025 with trips of between two and three days that will wind through the vineyards of Tuscany, the coast of Sicily and cities such as Venice, Palermo or Portofino.
Although the trains are not yet ready, Bloomberg reported in July that enough people have already pre-registered to charter several trains. “The Orient Express La Dolce Vita is an ode to Italian seduction. It is the evocation of a unique art of living where a carefree attitude reigns,” says a brochure. What the prospectus does not indicate is that the most exclusive suites can become a source of concern for the pocketbook, as they will cost 25,000 euros per night.
However, the crown jewel will come into operation somewhat later, almost four decades after the original train stopped service in Istanbul in 1977. “The itineraries have not yet been publicly revealed, but they will cover routes through Europe and, of course, the emblematic Paris-Istanbul route,” anticipates Yan Guezennec, commercial director of the French hotel group.
As Guezennec explains from Paris, a stroke of luck allowed historian Arthur Mettetal to find 17 Orient Express carriages on the border between Belarus and Poland in 2015 when he was doing a global inventory for the SNCF. “The interiors retained the same Morrison and Nelson marquetry and René Lalique panels, emblematic of the Art Deco style,” he continues. “After two years of negotiations, the carriages were sold to Orient Express, currently an Accor brand, and a huge convoy brought them back to France,” he summarizes.
Although Guezennec prefers not to reveal details, each car of the old train will house three suites and a room to accommodate the butler. “The Orient Express will have 32 suites, including the presidential suite, although the exact number of passengers has not yet been determined,” he points out. The purpose is to turn Orient Express into a reference for ultra-luxury travel and for the brand to not only be seen on trains, but also on hotels and sailboats.
The great demand experienced by this century-old route is the best example of the railway's resurgence. Searches on Pinterest for terms like train trip aesthetic, for example, have increased 205% in the last two years.
The Orient Express's prime came in the 1920s, when Pullman carriages were introduced. The train service was the most luxurious of the time: silk sheets, leather armchairs and… up to eight courses per meal. Travelers dined together, crossed several countries, and concluded a vibrant and relaxing trip. Some of this spirit is re-emerging now. In Asia, routes from the former British empire are being recovered and the same is happening in Japan, France, Italy, the US and Canada.
While in the 1920s passengers wore glass beads, feathers and the casual chic clothing of Coco Chanel, now Manolo Blahnik shoes, Patek Philippe watches and Vuitton bags have taken over... Perhaps for this reason, in Some routes have a dress code that prevents, for example, wearing jeans at night, just as Hercule Poirot, the Belgian detective, would have expected.
However, the rush of the digital age erased unforgettable journeys in one fell swoop. Its current restoration is related to climate change and the emergence of an environmental movement that summarizes the Swedish word flygskam (“fly shame”), a term that already has its equivalent in the English language: flight shame. For a growing number of people, flying by plane is full of discomfort (constrictions, delays, etc.) and can raise a bad conscience due to polluting emissions.
Joan Miquel Gomis, professor of Economics and Business at the UOC and specialist in tourism, remembers that Thomas Cook made the first organized trip in modern history in 1841 when he chartered a train to transport 500 people from Leicester to Harborough. “Today, some legendary trains are becoming hotels in motion and, at the same time, the destination itself,” he says.
“Rail transport in these cases is part of the travel experience, that is, it is much more than a simple means of transportation,” adds this expert who directs the magazine Oikonomics. In fact, some of these trips are promoted as “experience tourism”, since in reality it is about providing a pleasure that remains in memory, making the client develop an emotional connection with the service.
One way or another, the renovated railways are becoming “aspirational,” says Gomis, since one of their goals is to reduce pollution. That said, the customer profile is not usually related to sustainability as passengers put their foot on the footboard or train ladder after sometimes having traveled thousands of kilometers by plane from their countries of origin.
Be that as it may, historic trains are back in their own right, thanks to the charm of slow travel in its most luxurious aspect and nostalgia for the old days.
