Orient Express on track for return The Venice-Simplon Orient Express, which uses antique carriages from the legendary route, at a station in Bucharest. On December 12 2009, the 469 Orient Express train pulled out of Strasbourg en route to Vienna and then vanished from European rail timetables. The 126-year-old route had fallen victim to a lethal combination of high-speed trains and low-cost airlines. Four years on, the world's most famous train is about to be resuscitated: next week, French rail and transport group SNCF will announce the creation of Orient Express, a wholly owned subsidiary with a mission to build a brand from a name long associated with the ultimate in high-end travel. State-owned SNCF says it has struck an agreement with the trunk maker Moynat, owned by French billionaire Bernard Arnault, the chairman and chief executive officer of the luxury LVMH conglomerate. The idea is to develop several prototype products carrying the Orient Express name. It is also working on a partnership with Cauval, the French bedding and furniture manufacturer, to develop luxury mattresses under the Orient Express label that will retail for up to €40,000 each. In April, the company will launch the new company with an exhibition, complete with antique carriages used on the original Orient Express service, at the Arab World Institute in Paris. The idea is to take the exhibition on to a number of European cities that lie along the various routes the train service took over the years. The state-owned company is also determined not to rush the process, and says that it will take its time in choosing the best and most appropriate partners to create what it hopes will become a top-tier luxury name. "We want to develop a brand that has luxury travel and French lifestyle at its centre," Frank Bernard, the SNCF's director of development and chief executive officer of the new subsidiary, told the FT in an interview. The initial investment is between €40m and €60m. At the heart of the brand-building is an idea to relaunch the now-legendary 19th century Paris-Istanbul Orient Express train service, which counted Lawrence of Arabia and Marlene Dietrich among a long roll call of celebrity passengers. The world's most famous train was immortalised in Agatha Christie's detective novel Murder on the Orient Express, whose 1974 film version won an Oscar. Last month, Variety reported that Fox was in the process of planning a remake. Mr Bernard said SNCF was working on a number of "concept" carriages with modern fittings, furnishings and facilities that would set a new standard for luxury train travel in the 21st century. He said the new service - which would carry 150 passengers at a time and go initially between Paris and Vienna - was likely to be up and running within five years. The move comes as SNCF moves to step up profits from the Orient Express name, which it has owned since registering it in 1977 after discovering that it was up for grabs. "It seems amazing to think that nobody owned it," said Patrick Ropert, an SNCF board member and chairman of the Orient Express subsidiary. I suppose that it was not the mindset of the period. But the transport group, which in 2012 reported revenues of €33.8bn and €3bn in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation, has so far done very little with it. SNCF's only commercial venture since its acquisition of the brand has been to grant a licence in 2001 to Orient Express Hotels, a UK-based hotel group. The license allows them to use Orient Express as part of its corporate name and to run the Venice-Simplon Orient Express service. While more a tourist experience than an official rail service, the Paris to Venice route offers passengers the chance to travel in antique carriages that were used on the legendary route. The original Orient Express service began life in 1883 after a Belgian entrepreneur came up with the idea. The initial route linked Paris to Istanbul but there were also different routes over the decades - as well as several interruptions during the two world wars.