This was published 2 years ago
Orient Express La Dolce Vita photos: New luxury train for Italy unveiled
By Julietta Jameson
Each train will feature 12 cabins, 18 suites, the "Honour Suite" and a restaurant carriage offering a high-end dining experience.
Aside from the occasional strike shutting things down, riding the Italian rails is all about fast, easy and comfortable transport.
But of course, there's romance in it too: that beautiful scenery, those grand stations.
And in 2023, the romance is set to be taken up more than a notch or two with the legendary Orient Express returning to Trenitalia's network after an absence of 45 years.
The train features a striking homage to groovy 1960s and 1970s style.
Renderings of the six 11-carriage trains set to reinvent the golden age of train travel, Italian edition, for a new generation show a striking homage to groovy 1960s and 1970s style. The design is by the renowned Milan-based Dimorestudio, in demand for their multi-era vintage aesthetics with the likes of Dior, Hermes and Fendi on their client list.
Fittingly named Orient Express La Dolce Vita and home-stationed at Roma Termini (where there'll be a dedicated lounge), these streaks of glamour-on-wheels will dance across 14 regions and 131 cities in Italy on one-to-three-night itineraries. Sure to be high on the honeymooner hitlist will be an additional run between Rome and Paris, as well as Rome-Istanbul and Rome-Split (Croatia).
Each train will feature 12 cabins, 18 suites, the "Honour Suite" and a restaurant carriage offering a high-end dining experience.
The rain will travel across 14 regions and 131 cities in Italy on one-to-three-night itineraries.
It's a joint venture between Trenitalia and the luxury hotel operator Arsenale in association with Accor Hotels which runs the Orient Express brand.
Meanwhile, for more plebeian travel, COVID continues to complicate. Trenitalia was running "COVID-free" high speed trains, meaning both passengers and staff were tested for COVID-19 before boarding for specific journeys, during the 2021 high season. Now, a vaccination certificate valid for nine months from the time of the most recent dose, or a a recovery certificate valid for six months since the date of recovery, or a rapid antigen test with a negative result within the 48 hours prior to journey is required. At least until March 31, only FFP2 (N95) masks are permitted on trains, not surgical or cloth masks.
But COVID's impact on train travel may cut even deeper. According to a recent Future of Infrastructure report by multinational engineering consultancy, AECOM, "Coronavirus has upended the world's operating assumptions, and it will be no different for railways. Some predictions point to a 20 per cent reduction in overall trips on public transport after travel restrictions are lifted, including a 27 per cent drop in commuter travel as the trend towards home working endures. Some people, worried about infections, may simply never return to public transport."
In that context, it makes sense to use excess rail capacity for the kind of joy luxury train tourism can bring.
Unsurprisingly, in this instance, that joy will come at a price: Orient Express La Dolce Vita will cost around from around €2000 ($A3160) a person a night.
NEWS BITES
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