Venice-Simplon-Orient-Express
| Venice Simplon Orient Express | |
|---|---|
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| Train type: | Luxury tourist train |
| Countries: |
 Europe , mainly:
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| Predecessor: | Simplon Orient Express |
| First drive: | May 28, 1982 |
| Today's operator: | Belmond Ltd., a subsidiary of LVMH |
| Former operator: | Orient-Express Hotels Ltd. |
| Passengers: | 180 |
| route | |
| Destination station: | London , Paris , Venice , Vienna , Berlin , Budapest , Prague , Istanbul |
| Cycle: | weekly
Status: 2019 |
| Technical specifications | |
| Rolling stock: | Sleeping , dining and saloon cars ex CIWL |
The Venice-Simplon-Orient-Express , spelling Venice Simplon-Orient-Express without a hyphen between Venice and Simplon , abbreviated VSOE , is a luxury train that has been in service since 1982 and operated by Belmond Ltd. is operated. It is made up of historical coaches from the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits (CIWL) and runs in the form of rail cruises on various European routes, including the historic routes of the former Simplon-Orient-Express and the Orient-Express .
history
In 1977 , Sea Containers Ltd. , headed by James B. Sherwood , began . historical carriages of the CIWL and the British Pullman Company to acquire and to be extensively restored. Sherwood is a logistics and tourism entrepreneur who was born in New Castle , Pennsylvania in 1933 and later relocated to Great Britain.
The VSOE was first used on May 28, 1982. The first trip offered was the route of the Simplon-Orient-Express from London via Paris to Venice, which is still operated weekly today. Sea Containers bought the Hotel Cipriani for accommodation in Venice, which was also the company's entry into the tourism business.
The operator was Orient-Express Hotels Ltd. , a subsidiary of Sea Containers, in which all tourism activities were incorporated. Due to the financial difficulties of the parent company, she became independent in 2005 and moved to Belmond Ltd. in June 2014 . renamed. The listed company is based in Hamilton , Bermuda .
In addition to the VSOE, Belmond Ltd. various luxury trains with former CIWL Pullman cars in Great Britain, the Eastern and Oriental Express , as well as hotels in 17 countries. Since December 2018 Belmond Ltd. to the French luxury goods group LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton .
In Great Britain, the Belmond British Pullman runs daily as a feeder from London to ports on the Channel coast. The travelers were first with ferries the Sealink over the English Channel set. Sealink was the former British Rail ferry company , which was founded in 1984 by Sea Containers Ltd. was bought up. Since the opening of the Canal Tunnel , coaches have been used, which are loaded onto one of the shuttle trains . On the French side, the travelers use the former CIWL sleeping cars of the types Lx and S.
Route and offer
Initially, the train ran twice a week from November to March in the winter months, but in a few years the journey was also offered three times a week. From 1984 the train stopped running in some years during the winter months. In 2019, the train only ran weekly in the summer months.
From 1984 the route between London and Venice led away from the original Orient Express route via the Basel – Buchs - Innsbruck - Brenner Pass route . This year the 16-car train carried 22,000 passengers. The composition offered space for 180 guests, who were looked after by 40 servants. The journey from London to Venice then cost the equivalent of 1,500 Swiss francs .
One trip per year leads from Paris via Budapest and Bucharest to Istanbul. The journey to Istanbul is six days with five nights. In addition to the trips on the route of the former Simplon-Orient-Express , the VSOE also runs to the cities of Berlin, Vienna, Budapest and Prague.
Fleet
The VSOE fleet consists mainly of 16 historic former CIWL cars from the years of construction 1926 to 1931, including three dining cars, one bar and 12 sleeping cars, the latter mainly of the CIWL type Lx . In addition to these ex-CIWL vehicles, some of which were modernized in 1982, the train also has service cars and other color-coordinated cars. In 2003–2006, the VSOE's continental wagons were modernized and received, among other things, modern bogies from Bombardier and new air conditioning systems . Since then, the wagons have been approved for 160 km / h. A special feature is the type S sleeping car built in 1926 with the CIWL number 3309, which a few years after its commissioning belonged to the train set of the Simplon Orient Express that was snowed in Turkey in 1929.
The Zubringerzug from London to the Channel coast consists of older, also restored British Pullman cars , including cars from the previous sets of Pullman trains Brighton Belle and Golden Arrow .
Web links
- Official site of the operator. Belmond
- Video guide. Seat 61, October 20, 2014(English).
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b News in brief: Europe . In: Railway amateur . April 1982, p. 241 .
- ↑ a b c Venice Simplon-Orient-Express . In: Ameropa (Ed.): Railway adventure travel worldwide . 2019, p. 18-19 .
- ↑ James Sherwood talks trains, hotels, ships, and true luxury. In: Octavian Report. Retrieved June 6, 2019 (American English).
- ↑ Oliver Morgan: Sea Containers grabs at a lifeline . In: The Observer . May 7, 2006, ISSN 0029-7712 ( theguardian.com [accessed June 7, 2019]).
- ↑ investis.com: Orient-Express Hotels Ltd. Changes corporate name to Belmond Ltd. (accessed January 6, 2015).
- ↑ Homepage of Belmond Ltd. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
- ↑ Rupert Neate: Venice Simplon Orient-Express sold to owner of Christian Dior and Louis Vuitton , The Guardian , December 14, 2018
- ^ The Great British Rail Sale is Over . In: The Railway Magazine . No. 1152 , April 1997, p. 24-25 .
- ^ Venice Simplon Orient Express: The early years. Eastbank Model Railway Club, accessed June 8, 2019 .
- ↑ a b c News in brief . In: Railway Amateur . No. 5 , 1985, pp. 342 .
- ↑ News in brief: Europe . In: Railway amateur . March 1985, p. 163 .
- ↑ Information from the VSOE homepage (accessed on August 5, 2011)
- ↑ Information from the VSOE homepage , accessed on February 28, 2012.
- ^ Konrad Koschinski: 125 years of the Orient Express. In: Eisenbahn-Journal , special edition 2/2008, p. 79.
- ↑ Belmond British Pullman: Fact Sheet , accessed June 7, 2019