East-Express train

The East-Express train is a pullman-car express which, since 1883, ensured the connection between Paris (Gare of the East) and Constantinople become Istanbul, with stopover in several European capitals . Decoration as the crockery had been redrawn by it, in the Années 1920, by Rene Lalique. After several changes of route, two interruptions due to world war between 1914 and 1921 then between 1939 and 1945, it ceased its regular service in 1977, overcome by the permanent fall its block speed (approximately 55 hm/h towards the end!) had with interminable and nightmarish controls in the crossed communist countries and by the competition of the Plane. In 1982, a new service, ensured by private company, took over on the Boulogne-sur-Mer way, then by Innsbruck, prolonged sometimes towards Istanbul, under the name of Venice-Simplon-East-Express train. The East-Express train of origin continues its regular service between Paris and Vienna (the Paris-Strasbourg section from now on being ensured by TGV-Is in correspondence).

Routes

The first train, which was called “Express train of the East”, then “East-Express train” as from 1891, circulated, twice by week, between Paris - (Gare of the East) and Constantinople (Istanbul) via Strasbourg, Munich, Vienna, Budapest and Bucharest. This train was not direct: it stopped with Giorgiu (Romania), the crossing of the the Danube until Rousse (Bulgaria) was done on a vat, then a second train ensured the way until Varna, port Bulgarian on the Black Sea. From there a vapor led the passengers in 14:00 to Istanbul. In 1885, the service became daily until Vienna. Starting from 1889, the line being completed to Istanbul, the train became direct.

April 11th, 1919, an additional service is opened by Italy thanks to the opening, carried out a few years earlier, of the Tunnel of the Simplon. It connected Calais-Maritime (with correspondence of England) and Paris-station from Lyon to Istanbul via Lausanne, Milan, Vérone, Venice, Trieste, Zagreb, Belgrade and Sophia. This Southern route, which avoided Germany, quickly became most important.

In 1921, the East-Express train, stopped during the war, is restored on its original route.

In the years 1920, a new correspondence is ensured on Asian bank of Istanbul, Haïdar-Pasha (or Hayderpasa) towards Baghdad and Al Basra (maritime correspondence towards the Indies) by new the " Taurus-Express". Faster than the boat, the associated service " The Simplon-East-Express" + " Taurus-Express" allows to go to Egypt, to Palestine, and even further, in an unequalled comfort. It is the golden age of the " The East-Express".

The war will put an end to it. After the fall of the iron curtain, the communist countries will accept this " badly; cord occidental" crossing their borders. The performances will drop, controls will intensify. However, Yugoslavia, country critical and atypical, will send many emigrants towards the West and new customers will appear in the trains crossing it.

The " The Simplon-East-Express" , in 1962, is replaced by two trains: the " Simplon-Express" , daily train accelerated, limited to the Paris-Zagreb-Belgrade course and composed mainly of Yugoslav material (with however a French section limited to Venice) and a second, the “Direct-East-Express train”, also daily newspaper, and comprising a sleeping car twice per week until Istanbul, three times per week towards Athens. Excluded these two sleeping cars (of type YU of 1939), the material used towards Balkans is rather ordinary (sitted places 2nd class daily towards Istanbul of the type DEV. the SNCF of 1946, idem towards Athens, with, moreover, two compartments and a living room of three places in 1st class and Bulgarian periodic voitures-couchettes of 2nd class limited to Sofia) the convoy also includes the sleeping car and the Calais-Maritime-Milan berths (in correspondence with England) borrowing the Small belt between the station of North and the station of Lyon.

Year by year, the restaurant cars hung in the course of road will disappear, the customs annoyances will delay the walk of the " The Direct-East-Express" and the customers will étiolera themselves.

In 1971, under the impulse of the Shah of Iran, a new correspondence is finally offered with the " The Direct-East-Express" in Istanbul towards Teheran by a non-stop train, the " Vangolü-Express".

In 1972, the " Taurus-Express" Istanbul-Alep-Baghdad is accelerated and a correspondence is established in Syria towards Beirouth. Unfortunately, the political situation prevents any prolongation towards Israel and Egypt, as before 1939.

In 1976, a Swiss company, " Intraflug" launch the exploitation, with material of prestigious time, of a " The Nostalgia-Istanbul-East Express" who is a certain success. The same year, at the time of a Conference of the railroads, one tries to start again the service Paris-Istanbul (3.050 km) and Athens (3.242 km) by renovating it and by accelerating it preliminary being to it the passage from three to two nights of voyage, as on Paris-Moscow (3.OOO km) which knows a sharp passion but without managing to put all the crossed countries of agreement. In front of this acknowledgment of failure and the operating deficit, the " The Direct-East-Express" cease circulating in 1977. The last non-stop train for Istanbul and Athens leaves the station from Lyon, in Paris, with a few minutes of delay, the May 20th 1977.

L'" The East-Express" of origin continued to circulate by the northern route Paris-Strasbourg-Munich-Vienna-Budapest and of the through carriages, in particular of the French sleeping cars, (attended mainly by the diplomats of Caucescue) will be built-in from Paris to Bucharest until the beginning of the year 1990. In 2001 a resumption of this service of Paris-Bucharest sleeping cars took place with Rumanian sleeping cars, but for little time. The train was then limited from Budapest in Vienna. Today, this name is always carried by the rapid Strasbourg-Vienna Austrian, in correspondence in Strasbourg with TGV-Is coming from Paris-Station of the East.

In 1982, a train bearing the same name was reconstituted by a British contractor, Sir James Sherwood, president of the shipping company Sea Containers with restored material of origin. It ensures a regular service between Boulogne-sur-Mer, first of all, from now on Calais (in correspondence with England) and Venice via Paris, Milan then Innsbruck under the term “Venice-Simplon-East-Express train”, with stages, at certain dates, in Vienna, Prague or Budapest, and a prolongation towards Istanbul, initially by a special boat, called " The East-Express" (this to avoid the crossing of the Eastern European countries) then, nowadays, by terrestrial way. This train, most prestigious in the world, maintains the tradition legendary of a " The East-Express" pullman-car express.

The " Simplon-Express" , as for him, heir to the " The Simplon-East-Express" , was a great success until in the years 1990, when the war in Central Europe and the dismemberment of Yugoslavia caused its disappearance.

On its side, in 2003, the Compagnie of the sleeping cars pertaining to the French Group Accor restores seven cars of its historical heritage and gives them in service in a train called “Pullmann East-Express train”, used mainly in the form of dinner-voyages at the beginning of Paris, but also being able to be chartered by companies or private individuals, upon request.

Chart

Today

A daily service of night connects Paris to Vienna, under the number INTO 263 and the name " The East-Express" , operated by ÖBB. The train leaves the station Paris-Is with 17:16 and arrives at Vienna-West at 8:30 the next morning. In the other direction, the East-Express train carries the number INTO 262, share of Vienna-West to 20:34 and arrives at Paris-Is with 10:27. This service was stopped the June 9th 2007 with the installation of the TGV Est.
The schedules and stopovers of the Paris-Vienna way are the following:

Arrived stopover Departure Paris Is 17:16 Trawl-net-in-champagne 18:40 18:42 Nancy City 20:07 20:10 Strasbourg 21:23 21:48 Kehl 21:56 22:12 Baden-Baden 22:35 22:37 Karlsruhe Hbf 22:57 23:07 Pforzheim Hbf 23:27 23:29 Stuttgart Hbf 00:07 00:20 Plochingen 00:34 00:35 Göppingen 00:46 00:47 Geislingen (Steige) 00:58 01:00 Ulm Hbf 01:23 01:25 Neu-Ulm 01:29 01:31 Günzburg 01:44 01:46 Augsburg Hbf 02:26 02:29 München-Pasing 03:02 03:04 München Ost 03:16 03:18 Salzburg Hbf 04:44 05:00 Attnang-Puchheim 05:51 05:53 Wels Hbf 06:12 06:14 Linz/Donau Hbf 06:28 06:31 St.Valentin 06:46 06:48 Amstetten 07:07 07:09 St.Pölten Hbf 07:41 07:43 Wien Hütteldorf 08:21 Wien Westbahnhof 08:30

The nearest end of this historical train is announced with l´arrivée of TGV and ICE by the line known as " LGV Is European " in June 2007. Paradoxically, in waiting of the construction of the line from beginning to end, that carries run time between the French and Austrian capitals to 10:08. It will then be set up from Vienna a night train to Strasbourg and stationing 1:30 in station of Karlruhe, putting 1 hour more than the current layout. A TGV will leave one hour and half after l´arrivée this train to Strasbourg.

Literature

The East-Express train inspired with Agatha Christie one of its more famous detective novels, the Crime of the East-Express train , in form of “door-close railway” in the Istanbul-Calais sleeping car, where its hero Hercule Poirot is confronted with a so particular crime, which him and the other investigators prefer “to forget” the solution of the enigma and to leave the unpunished crime. This novel also was the subject of a film adaptation, realized by Sidney Lumet, left on the screens in 1974.

The novel of Graham Green East-Express train (in English Stamboul-Train ) evokes, as for him, the atmosphere of the Thirties in Central Europe.

See too

External bonds

  • Official site of East-Express train Hotels, Trains & Cruisings
  • Official site of the Pullmann-East-Express train
  • East-Express train on wagons-lits.com

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