Orient Express La Dolce Vita luxury train to launch in Italy in 2023

The Orient Express brand, under Accor Group (not to be confused with Belmond's Venice Simplon Orient Express), is partnering with Arsenale S.p.A. to launch Orient Express La Dolce Vita, a luxury train service set to debut in 2023. The project, led by Arsenale (owned by Nicola Bulgari and Paolo Barletta), will feature six trains with 11 carriages each, traversing 14 Italian regions and connecting Rome to Paris, Istanbul, and Split. The trains will cover over 16,000 km of railway lines, including 7,000 km of non-electrified tracks, promoting slow tourism through lesser-known Italian landscapes and villages. Interiors are designed by Dimorestudio (founded by Emiliano Salci and Britt Moran), inspired by 1960s-70s Italian design masters like Carlo Scarpa, Gio Ponti, and Ignazio Gardella, as well as Spatialist artists Lucio Fontana, Agostino Bonalumi, and Enrico Castellani. The train offers 12 Deluxe cabins, 18 Suites, and 1 Honor Suite, plus a restaurant. Partnerships with Trenitalia and Fondazione FS Italiane support the service. Additionally, the first Italian Orient Express hotel, Hotel Orient Express Minerva, is set to open in Rome opposite the Pantheon in 2024. Accor CEO Sébastien Bazin and Arsenale CEO Paolo Barletta both emphasized the revival of the historic brand and the focus on luxury, slow travel. The project aims to attract around 70,000 passengers annually.