Which luxury train began service between Paris and Constantinople in 1883?

The luxury train that began service between Paris and Constantinople in 1883 was the Orient Express. It was created by Belgian entrepreneur Georges Nagelmackers’s Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits.

The first Express d’Orient departed Paris on 5 June 1883, initially travelling to Vienna. In October that year, the service was extended toward Constantinople, then the common Western name for Istanbul, using a combination of rail journeys and a ferry across the Danube. A fully direct Paris–Constantinople train began in 1889.

The name is often confused with Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, a modern luxury tourist service that recreates the atmosphere of the historic train but is not the original 1883 service. The Orient Express became famous for sleeping cars, dining cars and international travel, and later inspired novels and films, especially Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express. Its routes changed repeatedly, and regular service to Istanbul ended in 1977.