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May 20: On This Day in World History … briefly
On December 14, 2009, the Orient Express ceased to operate and the route disappeared from European railway timetables, reportedly a 'victim of high-speed trains and cut-rate airlines'.
1961: Jet travel murders the Orient Express
The ‘king of trains and the train of kings’, the once-luxurious Orient Express, set off from Paris on its final journey to Istanbul.
From its inauguration in 1883 until World War II stopped the service, the Orient Express was renowned as the epitome of luxury travel. It was used as the background to Graham Greene’s ‘Stamboul Train’ in 1932, and again two years later was the setting for Agatha Christie’s ‘Murder on the Orient Express’.
Sadly, since the route reopened after the war, the standard of service was no longer preferred by kings because they now preferred to fly.
Most notable historic snippets or facts extracted from the book ‘On This Day’ first published in 1992 by Octopus Publishing Group Ltd, London, as well as additional supplementary information extracted from Wikipedia.
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