The legendary Orient Express made its first journey from Paris to Constantinople on October 4, 1883, offering a luxurious experience with a dining car featuring lavish meals like oysters and chicken chasseur. This extravagance required additional space for iceboxes to store food and drink. The train's opulence, depicted by writers like Agatha Christie, highlighted its status as a symbol of high-class travel.
In the early days of rail travel, passengers brought their own food or ate at station cafes. The introduction of dining cars began in America in the 1860s with George Pullman’s innovations, and soon spread to Europe. Belgian engineer Georges Nagelmackers, founder of the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits (CIWL), transformed European rail travel with luxurious dining and sleeping cars, including those on the iconic Orient Express.
The dining car on Le Capitole, a French express train between Paris and Toulouse, in 1966 SNCF Archives and Documentation Department (SARDO)
The golden age of luxury train travel peaked in the 1920s, with CIWL offering elegant dining experiences onboard. However, the rise of faster trains, air travel, and personal cars after World War II led to a decline in luxury rail travel. By the 1960s, convenience replaced comfort, with buffet cars and portable minibars becoming more common.
Despite the decline, the nostalgia for luxurious train dining remains. The new Orient Express, set to relaunch in 2025, aims to revive the opulent experience of dining onboard, showcasing the romance of train travel that once represented the height of luxury.
