France’s new Orient Express train harks back to Art Deco heyday

There’s budget or economy travel, standard travel, and luxury travel — and, then, there’s Orient Express travel, which raises the bar even higher. 

Or at least, there was. The last trains ran in 2009, and — after 126 years of grace, style and panache — the sumptuous service was shunted to the sidelines, apparently forever.

But ambitious plans are in place to resurrect the service, with the first trains to start rolling between Paris and Istanbul in 2027, after being originally scheduled for this year. 

Genuine Orient Express carriages – 17 of them that were apparently slowly rusting away in Poland, near the border with Belarus — that rode the rails back in the 1920s have been carefully restored and modernised, while remaining true to their original Art Deco style.

Chances are that mere mortals on salaries below that of humble Local France journalists will have to win the lottery, remortgage, or save up for a very long time to book a trip on the Orient Express when it starts running again. 

But, good news, if you’re in Paris, four Pullman carriages, originally designed by René Prou ​​and René Lalique, are on display at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris as part of an exhibition called 1925-2025: A Century of Art Deco, which runs until April 26th, 2026.

The exhibit also includes videos of the craftspeople using traditional techniques to create the beautiful modern carriages, and explaining how the Art Deco style of the 1920s influences their work.

The modern updates are the brainchild of architect Maxime d’Angeac, artistic director of Orient Express.

Accor already operates another equally legendary train in Italy: the Dolce Vita-Orient Express, a tribute to an Italian train from the 1960s/70s.