ORIENT EXPRESS:
THE LEGENDARY HISTORY IN 10 DATES
Invent / Reinvent
The history of Orient Express is a technical, industrial and artistic epic tale. Drawing on this history and its emotional heritage, it continues to amplify this experience, always pushing the limits of what is possible to explore another way of traveling.
1867, when it all began
1876, the CIWL is born
1883: the inaugural journey
1894: the opening of the first hotels
1919: the new Simplon-Orient-Express route
1926 – 1929: the birth of a unique style
1934: Murder on the Orient Express
1977: the ultimate journey
2016: a new identity
Today and tomorrow
The Endowment Fund
Remember / Dream
Orient Express has a particularly rich heritage. In addition to the historic cars operated by Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits (CIWL) until 1977, it also has many archival documents at its disposal. This remarkable heritage also evokes an intangible dimension made up of landscapes, sounds and scents, literary and film works. Orient Express is therefore not just a train, but a set of representations, images and fantasies that have shaped its history and broadened its heritage.
Preserve / Promote
In 2017, SNCF and Accor created the Orient Express Heritage Endowment Fund. This represents a commitment to preserving, enhancing and sharing this unique heritage, ensuring the promotion of a cultural institution that has become universally known. The general-interest organisation aims to maintain constant dialogue between past and present, particularly by supporting artistic and documentary creations through collaborations and commissions involving photographers in particular.