Design
landscapes unfurl before you – the only question is really why anyone would fly. All the while, the growing popularity of the railways
can also be understood in decidedly modern terms. Dramatically lower in greenhouse gas emissions than aircraft or cars, luxury trains allow guests to assuage their conscience even as they combine travel with a good night’s sleep. Not that experiences like the Orient Express merely shimmer into view. On the contrary, and as D’Angeac well knows, today’s luxury trips take persistence and care, the uncovering of ancient plans and the integration of modern sensibilities. Get it right, though, and the results can be spectacular, both for passengers and the firms that carry them.
Training days As that headline growth figure conveys, luxury train travel is booming. Aside from the overall direction on industry graphs, meanwhile, this is undoubtedly clear from what passengers themselves are craving. According to the 2022 Travel Trend Report, for instance, 81% of travellers say they’ll consider rail travel for their next trip, while 32% say they’ll take the train instead of flying. Elsewhere, a 2019 survey by
Booking.com uncovered that 25% of tourists now care more about the journey rather than the destination of any given holiday. How to explain this upsurge? In large part, experts suggest, the reasons are much the same as a century ago. “The experience of train travel comes with a more relaxed feel,” says Erik Billgren of The Vietage, a luxury Vietnamese train operated by Minor Hotels. “It’s easy to watch the changing scenery and a more seamless and straightforward way of getting around.” Gary Franklin agrees. As Belmond’s vice-president of trains and cruises explains, guests are increasingly “valuing time” spent taking in a view or unwinding with a glass of wine, especially after Covid taught everyone what a slower world could look like. It goes without saying, moreover, that the stunning
sleeping cabins of many trains certainly make them popular too. Climb aboard the Venice-Simplon Orient Express, for instance, and you’ll enjoy coffee in plush double beds and ensuite bathrooms to boot. Other trains provide comparable treats. Some suites
aboard the Rovos Rail train of southern Africa span half carriages, and boast writing desks and separate Victorian bathtubs. In India, the Maharajas’ Express puts up guests in cabins with safes, televisions, telephones and more. At the same time, everyone I spoke to concurred that train travel’s resurgence has more pragmatic causes too. As Billgren puts it: “People are looking to travel in a more sustainable way, reducing carbon footprints with [less] air travel.” The numbers seem to bolster this claim, with a 2022 report by Statista finding that three in four
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believe sustainability is a vital part of travel. It matters too that trains are so much cleaner than the alternatives. Often electric, and always running on low-friction metal tracks, only 1.8% of the greenhouse gas emissions stemming from transport come from railways. By contrast, the figure for road vehicles screeches in at more than 70%. It equally helps, of course, that railways usually deposit passengers in the heart of busy cities after a good night’s sleep – sparing them the environmental worries of long taxi rides from out-of-town airports.
Express purpose If you climb aboard a restored Orient Express carriage, first built in the 1930s and due to wheeze out the station once more in 2025, you’ll likely first notice the materials. There are bronze column capitals, and marble-covered tables, and rosewood details – and even an all-glass bar counter, homage to the French jeweller whose work adorned the original back when the jazz age was swinging. Spend a little longer and you’ll notice other particulars, like the mother pearl palette, or the elegant dining car with a dappled mirror ceiling. In short, it all feels wonderful – but listen to
Above: The Vietage whisks passengers past the jungles and rice paddies of central Vietnam.
Below: The treatment room on the Vietage, a train that combines ‘old-world comfort and gourmet dining’.
Opposite: Alongside the iconic Orient Express, an array of opulent trains are enchanting travellers.
Belmond; The Vietage
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