Orient Express to abandon London: what does this mean for travellers?

Extra red tape at borders caused by Brexit means the UK part of the Orient Express experience will shortly be axed.

Europe’s most notable train departed from Paris for the first time on 4 October 1883. Its destination was the city of Giurgiu on the Romanian side of the Danube, just across the river from Bulgaria.

Since then the route has changed many times as frontiers and alliances in Europe have shifted. But the core service, which began in 1889, linked Paris with Istanbul.

The journey began at Gare de l’Est, still the most atmospheric terminus in the French capital. It raced through the Champagne region, then Lorraine and Alsace. The express reached the Rhine at Strasbourg.

Shortly afterwards, the line of the Orient Express crossed Europe’s main north-south rail link – from Hamburg and Cologne to Switzerland and Italy – at the the village of Appenweier in western Germany (here, a self-aggrandising plaque beside the platform still announces this little halt to be the rail crossroads of Europe).

The Orient Express thundered east to Munich and then ticked off central European and Balkan capitals – Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Sofia – before brushing against the Bosphorus and arriving at Sirkeci station in Istanbul.

After 41 years of successfully running a service from London to Venice, these are the key questions and answers.

I’d love to travel on the Orient Express

Sadly, you are many years too late. The Paris-Istanbul service suffered death by 1,000 cuts before finally being put out of its misery in December 2009. By that stage the Orient Express was simply a nondescript overnight train from Strasbourg to Vienna.

But you know the one I mean?

Yes, the Venice-Simplon-Orient Express (VSOE), offering “a world of timeless glamour”.

The publicity promises: “Your voyage begins on the platform of a famed European city, where historic carriages await your arrival. Meet the conductor, check your bags with our porters, and feel the excitement build.”

For four decades (except for the difficult months during the Covid pandemic), passengers have been able to board a luxury train at London Victoria and travel through the beautiful Kent countryside while eating and drinking in style. The present arrangement is that they transfer at Folkestone to a coach that goes through the Channel Tunnel aboard a Eurotunnel shuttle.

On arrival in…